Why is Life so Busy?

I find I can post on Instagram or Facebook, but blogging is becoming more of a chore. I think it is partially that my husband and I share the same computer. My goal is to get more than one post a week, but we will see!
It is the end of the month and the only Wipocalypse project that I have made much progress on is First Christmas Stocking.

I am so very close on this piece!  Melissa has a challenge for next month to place at least one stitch on a single project every day. Yep! I can do that, as long as we don't travel....               
I am also late on The Totally Useless SAL which is supposed to go up on the new moon, which was Saturday(?). Anyway, here is my ort jar on the art quilt I am stitching:

I am leaving some of the lavender in, but a lot will be covered in beads and stitching!
Oh! Melissa always asks a question and this month's is
What finishing style have you never tried but would love to do?
I hate finishing projects myself so this is a tough question. Do you remember the Uncle Sam's Hat?

 It is stitched and ready to be finished as shown below.

But there is sits in my basement, waiting for someone to "poof" make it into a hat. Until next month!

Art Quilt Changes

I have been playing with this art quilt for awhile. I was with some friends on Friday and they helped me play with it.
This is where we left it on Friday:

I posted it on Instagram and my daughter commented that she thought the lavender was too much. As did  Cheryl . I looked at it and decided I agreed. I love fuchsia and purple, but the lavender did not make me happy. So I took photos and started playing.
Here is the upper left corner from Friday in color and black and white:

 Note that the pink and lavender are the same value-medium.

I painted some of the lace with some fabric paint I have and took some more photos:

  I am going to play with the lace a little more and try to get a little more of the dark fuchsia in some of the lace. Also, I will paint some of the lavender and make it purple.  I pulled a blue thread I dyed earlier this year which I think will work to pull this color around the quilt a little more. I am very excited about this piece and feel like it looks so much better.
I have TONS of ideas for stitching on it, but I need to get this base layer down.

IHSW

I was able to get a little stitching this weekend. I have decided to work on this as much as possible as I am so close to a finish.
Here is where I started on Friday:

 Here is where I ended this morning:

Looks like the crook will be ok. I know I am off by a little, but it will work. Hope you got a lot of stitching time this weekend.

Into the Basement....

I have company coming today and needed to tidy up my living room/stitching space. When it is just my husband and I, I feel comfortable keeping my 3 large projects upstairs. But with guests I feel like I need to be a little neater! (And it is easier to vacuum!)
MH 1656 went down. I will be bringing her back up quickly as I am getting a bit of a rhythm going on her.

Hey! It is International Hermit & Stitch Weekend!

I will probably stitch on my Christmas stocking. Hope you get lots of stitching time this weekend!

Gifted Gorgeousness for September

Where did the summer go? Jo over at  Serendipitous Stitching hosts this SAL where we post items that we received as gifts, that we are giving to people, etc. You get the idea!
This is a gift for my husband's aunt. She is a Quaker and I thought I would stitch something up for her and put it on a box. I am so close to being done!
Here is where I last showed it:

 And here I am now!

         I need to finish the last large motif and then I will start adding little ones in the blank spaces.

I Have Been Making Progress

I wanted you to see that I have been stitching on my Christmas stocking. A little every day...
Here is where it was last time:

And here I am now! I know I made a counting error somewhere long ago and I have decided to work from right to left to complete this. Hopefully I won't have to rip that huge staff that I started on the left. We shall see!

A Little Stitching, A Little Ripping

Well, I pulled My Beloved out to start working on her again. I love it, but I always seem to need to restitch part of every band.
Here is where you last saw her:

 I have been excited about this grape band since I decided to purchase the chart. I changed the colors of some to the grapes to purple and decided on green for the others as I had enough shades in light values to make it work.

 But I made a mistake in the first green cluster. I thought I could make it work, but when I went to put in the next cluster, I realized the whole band would be off. So out it came!

I think it took me three nights to get the cluster stitched. Sigh. It will be so nice when it is stitched!

Some Finishes

I posted these on Facebook and Instagram but never posted here.I spent an evening stuffing these little pillows that I stitched earlier this year. Or was it last year?

I'm a little early for Thanksgiving but it is nice to have fall decorations up.

Something to Add to my Art Quilt

I decided (with the help of friends!) that my quilt needed another layer under the doilies. I am making strips of fabric that I will slow stitch onto the piece. I also wanted to add cross stitch or needlepoint pieces to the piece too.
Here is something I hope to add:

I keep my stork scissors in my Gay Ann Rogers Townhouse Needle case. I may add more stitched scissors to the piece, but we will see. I am stitching on a cocktail napkin that I hand dyed and am using DMC 08.

Sampler September

My EGA has brought back the yearly challenge and I decided to join. The project has to be 50% or less stitched (Christmas stocking would not work) and the guild voted on the piece they wanted you to finish. It has to be framed or FFOed too. I had them choose between Autumn Abstraction by Joni Stevenson

 and MH 1656 by Hands Across the Sea Samplers. By my title, you can guess what they chose.  So, I am trying to work on it in the evening after I put a thread or two in the Christmas stocking. It is really a lovely piece.

WIP Wednesday

I wanted to start something new, or at least pull out a different project, but I feel like I am so close on this silly thing. So I am trying to put at least one thread in a day. Can I finish before Christmas? Maybe. But make it into a stocking? Not so sure...

I am getting another sheep....

Hooray!

Life has been a little busy or so it seems.
A friend gave us grapes. Lots of grapes. So what did we make?
Grape gelato.

My hubby loved it. Me? Not so much.
And grape jelly. I have another batch to make and then on to the apples for applesauce!

And I finished something! Well, not fully finished, but it is all stitched!
This is where you saw it last:

 I decided I really didn't have that much left and worked on it every spare moment over the Labor Day weekend. I love the flag!

 Not a great photo, but here it is stitched.

I changed a few things and used the threads and embellishments that I had. Love it! Now to figure out how to finish it so I can display it next summer.