Stitch from Stash May Update

Month: May
Spent: $0.00
Earn: $0.00

It's time for another Stitch from Stash update, check out Mel's Blog for details. This month I managed a zero spend on cross stitch supplies, which I am very pleased with. However I must admit that my personal budget did implode this month.

Here is some of what I finished up this month:

Floral Cross Stitch Ornament - Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Somebunny to Love Finish - DMC Creative - Free Somebunny to Love Chart.

As some of you know I have been trying different techniques to attempt to get a better handle on my personal budget and to stop accumulating large amounts of "stuff". So far I have made a number of changes which have helped me to save more and created a less stressful financial environment for myself.

My plan was to keep my unnecessary purchases as low as possible for the year. This month I did make a big purchase that I hadn't intended to make. I decided to invest in a tablet PC. While it was a large expense I approached the purchase using some of my new budget skills. I decided on a maximum spend I was willing to make, then I did lots of research and found the best tablet with the features I wanted within that price.

I am so glad that I spent the time doing the research and am extremely happy with my choice. This does mean that I need to make a huge effort not to make any more unnecessary purchases for the rest of the year.

I have also decided that I will not be joining the SFS group for the second half of the year. I feel I have managed to get my craft spending under a certain amount of control and as the spaces are limited, I will leave it for someone else to take my place.

Perfect for a New Baby: Somebunny to Love Cross Stitch Finish

Hey guys, I have a cross stitch finish to show you all today. It is my latest Somebunny project and was significantly less painful as my last one. You can see and read about my previous trials with these cute characters on The Chart that Never Ends: Somebunny to Love Finish. This project was a dream in comparison, and even better it was a free chart from DMC.

Somebunny to Love Finish

I used 28ct off white evenweave to stitch this project and the recommended DMC threads. It is available from DMC Creative - Free Somebunny to Love Chart.

I stitched the entire piece in hand, which was an unusual experience for me as I would normally use a frame for anything larger than a mini sized piece (4"x4" approx) This method caused a slight problem with my tension, which caused the fabric to warp in certain areas. A good steam press resolved most of that issue and as it is only slight, it should look fine once it is finished off fully.

I find everything in this chart just adorable, from her little white shoes with the flowers and heart buckles, to the patches on the dress and the shy expression so skillfully portrayed by the designer. It was a complete joy to stitch and is a nice small piece so it didn't take too long either, always a nice bonus.

Doesn't she just have the cutest expression

I think this would be an excellent gift for a new baby, and the free chart makes it cost effective. Adding baby's name, date and weight could make this an extra special present.  I adore gifting hand made items and have seen some of the happiest reactions from people when they receive something made just for them.

I plan on making this into a wall hanging, which is an exciting opportunity to experiment with another finish type I haven't tried before. I need to source some nice fabric and plan on using batting between the layers to give it some extra thickness.

Edit: I have added this to Super Mom - No Cape link Party. Click the link below to check out some great embroidery projects.

                                                                  

Stitch From Stash and The Budget Experiment Part 2

Month: March
Spent: $5.25
Earn: $8.00

This month I unfortunately didn't manage a zero spend. A very good friend of mine expressed an interest in learning to cross stitch, so I offered to teach her. I decided to pick up one to two supplies I didn't have in my stash to suit the chosen project.

However I did manage to earn some funds for a couple of finishes from my stash that I made. I have only taken earned funds for two of the three finishes, as the Lickle Ted project was one I had started before January and as it is small I decided to just leave it out.

Here are my projects for March:

Sweet Treats - Cupcake of the Month - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 192

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

HAED - Bridge of Wings

I also started a new mini project, a free Somebunny to Love design from DMC. I just thought it was so cute. The chart can be found here: DMC Somebunny to Love Free Chart

Somebunny to Love - DMC Free Chart -
 http://www.dmccreative.co.uk/Inspiration/Projects/Cross-Stitch-Inspiration/Dmc-SBTL.aspx?technique=cross+stitched

My attempts at controlling my spending are on going and I am continuing to try new techniques. I am still using the reward system, if you missed that post you can read it here: Stitch from stash and the Experiment to Spend Less. This is continuing to assist me in cutting much of my unnecessary spending. The last few weeks haven't seen much added to the reward jar, as I have needed to purchase some supplies for a craft class I am taking.

The new technique I have added this month is a food budget. I know that probably sounds incredibly obvious to many of you but I have never really paid much attention to a food budget. In the past I often used my credit card to buy groceries and as such would often overspend. Now I have allowed myself a certain amount, which I withdraw in cash on payday. This amount must be sufficient to cover grocery costs for the week. Any money left over at the end of the week goes toward the budget limit for the following one.

I have forbidden myself from using the credit card for grocery shops. This is working well for me so far and has led to smaller grocery bills and less food waste.

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on my new attempt to curtail my spending in the comments section.

Stitch From Stash and The Experiment to Spend Less

Month: February
Spent: $0.00
Earned: $0.00

Most of my stitching progress this month is from late January and early February. However my budget is going well, with my second no spend month. This year I have started a budget plan and will be trying various techniques to curb my spending in all areas of my life.

Lickle Ted - Christmas Stitch Kit - The World of Cross Stitching

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient

HAED - Bridge of Wings

Lavender & Lace - Celtic Spring

The first technique I have tested is a reward system. Each week that I manage to make no unnecessary purchases I add a small amount to a fund jar. This will go towards a large treat at the end of the year.  I had to ensure that the reward was neither too big nor too small. Too big and I would find it difficult to find it in my regular budget, too small and it wouldn't feel worth it.

The first lesson I have learned with this technique is never reward yourself in advance. If you decided to give yourself a reward of €5/$5/£5, whatever your currency is, but you reach the end of the week and find that you only have a 10, don't use that for this and next week's goal. Little compromises with myself, like this, is how these attempts at change have collapsed in the past. As soon as I compromise once, it makes it difficult not to do so again.

I am finding this a useful way to keep myself on track. I do have to be very clear about what is an unnecessary spend, for this exercise it is anything I do not need to survive. Here is an example of an unnecessary spend I made recently is, my phone has been crashing apps and become intolerably slow. I decided I would replace it as I use it regularly. Although my old phone was not able to perform the functions I needed to an acceptable standard, it still functioned. Therefore I considered the purchase of the new one as unnecessary and missed out on my reward. As a new phone is a large expense, I debated whether I would forgo my reward for a few weeks, however I decided against such a harsh measure, as it was only a matter of time before my old handset needed replacing.

Do you have any tips or tricks you use to help you stop spending? Please let me know in the comments below. I would be interested in trying them out.

Back Stitching on Aida and Why Sometimes it's Torturous

When I first started out cross stitching, I really disliked back stitching. I found it extremely time consuming and often very difficult. Over the years I have found ways of making this aspect of cross stitching some what easier. (I will be doing a post on some of the methods I use to make my back stitching more enjoyable and also better looking in a later post.) However some charts have complicated back stitching and using Aida makes the process close to nightmarish.

Why some back stitching more difficult on aida

This issues used to be a bigger problem for me when I had an unjustified fear of deviating from the recommendations on a chart in any way. Now it most often arises when using free card kits that come with magazines. The Margaret Sherry Mouse, pictured below, and the Lickle Ted design that is my current lunch time project are two such examples.

Margaret Sherry Mouse Card Kit

These two kits, and all other free kits that I have seen, include Aida for stitching on. They are the perfect size for the pattern so I use this piece rather than cutting something from my stash. Aida is a great fabric to work with as it is a nice and stiff, which makes it easy to stitch in hand. Each square on the fabric represents a stitch and I find it can be a bit more relaxing than evenweave as I don't need to concentrate on my stitch placement as much.

Then I get to the back stitching and this is when I wish I had gone to my stash. Both of these projects have small back stitches that may not start or end in a hole in the fabric. In fact they can appear out of anywhere within the stitch square. For instance if you look at the picture below, this is a close up of the ear of the mouse framed above.

In the circled section you can see that the chart called for the backstitching to come up about half way between the two top holes, piercing the fabric, and go down in the centre of the aida square, again piercing the fabric. Not only is this difficult to do, as it can be difficult to push the needle through the fabric, but it can also be hard to get the placement just right. I have often had to rip out stitching because it was askew.
 
Back stitching is a good thing

It must be pointed out that in both of these charts it is this type of backstitching that gives the piece its charm. These smaller backstitches are often used in projects where the subject has fur or is fluffy. The chicks in my recent Somebunny to Love project are another example of this type of back stitching and I think the effect is very sweet. While this type of stitching is difficult it gives some really pretty results.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Not all back stitching on aida is difficult, in fact some of it is down right pleasant when nearly all the stitches go from one hole on one fabric square to the opposite one either diagonally, vertically or horizontally. This sweet mini project by Joan Elliott is a perfect example of this.

Ultimate Joan Elliott Collection - Thanks You Cards

How working on evenweave differs

When working on medium/large piece, that has a lot of this small back stitching, I will usually use evenweave. It makes the piece significantly easier to do. tHis is because with evenweave you stitch over 2 strands of fabric. (This can make it a slightly more difficult fabric to work with overall and something I would not recommend to an absolute beginner.) Working over 2 for cross stitch means, you come up through one hole on the fabric, skip the next one diagonally and go down through the following hole. When a chart calls for small back stitches it means that instead of having to pierce the fabric, as you do with aida, you can just use the pre-existing holes.

The above image shows a small back stitch which came up through the hole on the left and down through the very next hole to the right. In aida the same stitch would mean having to pierce the fabric between the two holes in the fabric. Working on evenweave makes the whole process easier, less time consuming, less tiresome on my hands and leads to less ripping out.

This does not mean that I never use aida for these types of projects. The Lickle Ted project I am currently working on has small back stitching yet I am still using the enclosed aida as it is only a small project. However below are two projects for which, I really wish I had used evenweave. Though I think they still look great on the aida.

Margaret Sherry - Hedgehog - Summer Fun Booklet

Lickle Ted with Star  - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 167

I hope that this post has been enjoyable and that you found it useful. This was inspired by a question I recently received regarding a statement I made about back stitching on evenweave.

I would love to know your thoughts and if you have any other tips for working difficult back stitch on projects please leave a comment below.

I am still working on getting the images together for my gridding tutorial, hopefully you will see that in the next week.

The Chart that Never Ends: Somebunny to Love Finish

Have you ever had a project that felt like it would never end. That's what this chart has been like for me. After months of avoidance I finally settled down to finish the last few touches on Somebunny to Love. This pattern is a gift for a baby who is now 5 months old. I began working on this in June of last year.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I'm not sure why this particular project has been so difficult for me. I have stitched projects more complex and had less aversion to them than this. I have also stitched two Somebunny to Love patterns before and found them enjoyable to work on.

Somebunny with Trailer and Somebunny to love Special Delivery 

The bubbles were the last of this chart that needed to be stitched and I found myself dreading them as they had DMC E746 pearlescent thread and S800 Satin thread. Both of these are difficult enough to work with in a regular pattern, however I find them torturous when they are found in such small sections floating away from the main body of stitching. It makes them incredibly hard to start or finish. So to combat this I changed these to two DMC cotton threads of similar colour; 745 instead of E746 and 747 instead of S800.

These bunnies are just so cute

I now just need to add in the baby's name, date of birth and weight to complete it which I will probably stitch in variegated threads. I think this piece has really turned out beautifully but I just found it very difficult to work and I am so glad it is done.

I really love the backstitching on the two chicks.

This is my first finish for 2015 and my apologies that there was no post yesterday. I knew I was close to the finish and wanted to post it when it was all done. I will be framing it before I gift it to the new parents.

Edit: This piece was stitched on 28ct Hand Dyed Jazlyn in Aleannas Garden from the Crafty Kitten.

Edit: I changed the photos on this post as the white balance on the previous set was wrong. It resulted in the fabric looking more pink than it is. These colours are more true.

Last SFS of 2014

Well here we are at thhe last SFS check in for 2014. I have also joined in for 2015 and am hoping to cut my spending and stitch from stash even more next year.

This month I did make use of the Love Thy Thread exemption provided and purchased a few charts that I had been wanting for a long time.

Other than the the exemption charts I managed a zero spend this month, so Yay.

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: None

WIPs or UFOs worked on: HAED - QS Clara, Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 

Final total: Budget total $300, total spend: $82.06. As far as I remember the only exemption I made use of was the Love Thy Thread one, which was a total of $53.99.

Now onto the pictures, I actually have Somebunny progress to show!!

HAED - QS Clara

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

See you for next years Stitch From Stash

I am a little behind

I am a little behind today. This post should have gone out yesterday, my apologies. This is my YOTA progress for this month and again it has been on Somebunny. I am beginning to feel like this is the never ending project!

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I am also behind on my blog reading, I am hoping to catch up and comment today. I really want to get back to Elegance soon so I can finish that off as well. I hope everyone is enjoying the Mega Month of Mini's so far.

IHSW Check-in

Well this is an IHSW check-in with stitching that wasn't done during IHSW. I signed up this month with the intention of hermitting but it just didn't work out, not a single stitch was put into any project.

However I do have a small update on Somebunny. I have gotten progress on the girl bunny back stitching. I still have a bit to go but it is looking well.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Hope everyone had a good weekend or IHSW. Thanks to everyone who has been promoting Mega Mini Month Madness and to those who have signed up to do it with me.

September SFS

It's Stitch from Stash time again. I am really enjoying this SAL and it has helped a lot with my stash collection.

Here is my result for this month;

Amount Spent: $8.50

New Starts from Stash: Portal Block Dispenser - Pulltheotherthread, heart alphabet pattern DMC Freebie.

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179, HAED Bridge of Wings, HAED Autumn & Boofle Christmas Card Chart - Freebie from The World of Cross Stitch 

Here are the pictures for this months progress. Enjoy :)

HAED - Autumn

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Boofle Christmas Card Chart - Freebie from The World of Cross Stitch

heart alphabet pattern DMC Freebie.

Portal Block Dispenser - Pulltheotherthread

My stash this month was the threads for Alphabet Heart and the remaining special threads for Boofle.

Don't forget to sign up for Mega Mini Month Madness in my last post.

SomeBunny to Love - Back stitching

Hey everyone, hope you are all well. I have some progress on SomeBunny today. All the cross stitching on both bunnies is now done and I continued on with the back stitching on the boy bunny. This is actually quite tricky. There is very little straight forward back stitching in this piece. However despite its difficulty I think it looks really well as it shows the hand drawn quality of the characters, which is fun.

Now for the piccie:

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I just have to finish off his shoe and that's the first bunny done. I will complete the back stitching on the characters, then put in the little chicks the boy is looking at and the bubbles. So not too much left to do on this one.

Happy stitching all.

September YOTA

Apologies for my very late YOTA update. I haven't managed any work on Elegance this month so today's YOTA update is going to be on SomeBunny instead.

Here is where I am on this one as of today:

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Please do check out the other YOTA updates this month.

A Few Hours

I managed to settle down to a few uninterrupted hours on SomeBunny last night and I am very pleased with my progress. I got most of the little girl bunny's dress stitched. This dress is way more time consuming than the boy bunny's outfit as the colours keep changing.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I don't think I will have an update on Elegance for you tomorrow as I'm going to do my very best to stick with this and finish it once and for all. I really don't know why I have had such a block with this pattern. It just happens that way sometimes I think.

Some Projects

I have been feeling a bit under the weather the last week and as a result I have been bouncing around on my projects a little bit. I did manage to do another small bit of work on my Some Bunny project and started filling in the dress on the second bunny.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I also worked on Bridge of Wings for a day or two but I don't have a picture for you in this post, I will try and get one up next week. The last project I worked on was one I saw on Rhona's blog here and I fell in love with it immediately. She stitched hers in beautiful pink and green linen threads.

The great things about this pattern are; it is freebie and only has three colours. The threads I did have to buy as they are variegated and I didn't have them in stash. Here is how I got on with this one:

heart alphabet pattern,

I am stitching this on an off white evenweave as I didn't have any hand dyed fabby I thought would compliment it well enough. I just love it though and it has been quite fun to stitch. You can get the chart for this one here.

I hopefully will not leave it so long between posts next time and you will hear from me in the next few days or so.

SFS August

It's SFS time again. This month I actually had a very easy time of avoiding spending any money on stash as I had all my cards cancelled due to the theft of my bag!

Amount Spent: $0.00

New Starts from Stash: Blossoming Spring - The Ultimate Forest Friends Collection - Sheila Hudson

WIPs or UFOs worked on: Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 & Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

Piccies:

Blossoming Spring - The Ultimate Forest Friends Collection - Sheila Hudson

Dimensions Gold - Elegance of the Orient.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

My stitching has been a bit slow of late so not a huge amount of progress this month but not too bad :) Hope everyone had a great SFS.

Not Much Stitching

I have been quite out of sorts of late and therefore have managed very little in the way of crafting or stitching. I need to get my Somebunny done ASAP as the baby it's for is due very soon. I did manage to get the second bunny started but that is about all I managed.

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I hope I can get a good amount of progress done on this in the next week or so. I absolutely need to get this done actually.

The First Bunny Done

I have been working on my Somebunny to Love chart. I managed to get a full day in on one of my days off work and I finished all the cross stitching in the first little bunny, started the second and did a bit of the back stitching.

The back stitching on this piece is a bit difficult and all I can say is thank goodness for evenweave. Trying to do this back stitching on Aida would be worse than a nightmare. I still have a few weeks to get this one done before the baby arrives. I want to add the name, date and weight after.

Here is my progress on this:

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

I like doing some of the back stitching on these as I go because it brings the whole piece together and really gives an idea of how it will look. I know I have said this before but I have to say it again. I just LOVE this fabric. It is lovely to work with and I think the way it has been dyed is just beautiful. This is a piece of Crafty Kittens fabric and is the first time I have used hand dyed for a larger piece.

I have been trying to fight against two things lately, a new start and working on a WIP that isn't in my rotation. Since I got my new L&L charts I have been itching to start one, however I am not allowed any new starts that aren't minis or gifts this year. Also having seen the beautiful HAED work in blogland I have really wanted to do some work on Bridge of Wings but it isn't in my rotation and I have at least two projects that I really need to made good progress on, the one above and Elegance of the Orient. Wish me lucky in avoiding the lure.

July SFS

Well here we are again, it is stitch from stash time.  If you want to know more just head over to Epic Stitching. Thankfully Mel has give a bit extra time this month to submit which is great because I am behind.

Here is my SFS report:

Currently I have a cumulative budget of $175-$16.79 = $158.51

Amount Spent: $46.46, which leaves $112.05

New Starts from Stash: Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179, Witch's Pantry - Plum Pudding Needle Art - Just Cross Stitch Oct 2012, Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php, Boofle Christmas Card Chart - The World of Cross Stitching, Mario and Yoshi - Pull the Other Thread (From The Small Room on ETSY)

WIPs or UFOs worked on: HAED Autumn & Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179 

 

Here is what I worked on:

 

HAED Autumn

Bright Blooms - The World of Cross Stitching 179

Witch's Pantry - Plum Pudding Needle Art - Just Cross Stitch Oct 2012

Somebunny to Love - The World of Cross Stitching Issue 179

Swirly Sheep - Christy Schmitz - http://www.just-crossstitch.com/featured_pattern.php

Mario and Yoshi - Pull the Other Thread (From The Small Room on ETSY)

Boofle Christmas Card Chart - Freebie from The World of Cross Stitch

 This month I purchased the threads to stitch Boofle and another mini, the Halloween Ornament download edition of Just Cross Stitch and two Lavender and Lace charts I have wanted for years which were on sale at Willow Fabrics! Thanks to 'Jo who can't think of a clever nickname' who mentioned this sale in her SFS report.

 

Lavender & Lace - Fairy Godmother

Lavender & Lace - Lady Clare