A Finish and a couple of WIPs

So I'm back again.  It's the school holidays so I've actually got time to sit and compose a post!  Life is good but still manically busy but I am taking time to catch my breath this holidays and spend some quality time with the kids as well as trying to get all the jobs done that have piled up while I've been working.

Something else that's happening this holiday is that Connor turns 3 on Sunday.  Yes really.  I have no idea where the time goes as Lia will be 8 in two months and it only seems like yesterday that we discovered she'd be joining the two of us.

One good thing about the two of them growing up is that they are much more independent (especially Little Miss 'I'm just going to play in my room' LOL) so I am slowly getting a bit more crafting time again.

Anyway, the post title promises a finish and here it is:

Brrr! from Bent Creek stitched on a piece of 32ct Crystal Stellar from Picture this Plus.  He was the last of my winter stitching pieces and I've now moved on to a couple of more spring like WIPs, The Flock and Up the Garden Path.

SamSarah's The Flock - a WIP from last year that is getting some TLC.

Michael Powell's Up the Garden Path - a new start for 2013

Stanley

So I really have been stitching and here's the result.  He's Stanley by The Trilogy stitched using the recommended floss but on a piece of sparkly Picture this Plus (apologies, the fabric name escapes me).

I put the first few stitches in him back in November (I got the word 'singing' done) and then didn't pick him up again until a couple of weeks ago.  He was a relaticely quick stitch and very apt given the snow we had at the time.

I'm not giving myself any goals for 2013 except to enjoy crafting but I'd like to be able to have one finish a month on stitching projects.  New or WIPs I really don't mind.

Creeps in looking sheepish...

Erm so I'm still here and I'm doing ok but life turned manic shortly after my last post (yes that was August!) and it's only just starting to slow down.

A brief summary of the last four months:

1. My new job is brilliant, I absolutely love it and getting up for work is a pleasure once again.

2. My new job is knackering and I spent the first six weeks getting home, getting the kids fed and in bed and then collapsing on the sofa.

3. My new job has exposed me to the equivalent of germ warfare and I spent much if the first term (Sept to Dec) sick one way or another although I did manage to have only one day off work during that time when I had raging tonsilitis.

4. I still adore my job despite 2 and 3.

5. My kids are doing well although Connor too has gone through a lot of sickness especially over Christmas when he was extremely ill during our trip to Greece.  He has ended up with Scarlet Fever (who knew you could still get that?) but is pretty much through the worst now.  However he does weigh the same as he did seven months ago so needs some building up.

6.  Christmas was spent in Greece and was, not to put too finer point on it, dreadful.  I'm not sure when I'll have the mental strength to go back and spend time with the inlaws...

7. I have stitched and I have quilted but nowhere near as much as I like.

8. I intend to start posting here more.

9. I hope I'm not as embarassed by 8. as I am by the previous post on this blog.

10. I thank any of you out there who are still bothered about reading this!

Adjusting my priorities

So my silence has been pretty much deafening for most of this year other than my WIPocalypse posts - so much so that I'm surprised I still have readers prepared to comment on my intermittent posts.

I haven't spent too much time analysing my absence as I'm pretty sure I just needed a break from talking about me as I didn't have much going on.  Well, that's not stricly true as I've been home since February being a full time Mum so there was a lot going on, just not a lot that was really interesting LOL.

What's changed now is that I'm about to embark on a new job that is a totally different direction for me.  In my previous existence I built websites and wasn't at all happy in my work but in a weeks time I will be a Teaching Assistant in a class of 30 6 - 7 year olds!

I'll admit to being a little nervous as the last time I was in a school classroom was 23 years ago as a pupil so my learning curve is going to be extremely steep but I am so looking forward to feeling like I'm achieving something and doing something worthwhile.  I certainly didn't expect this kind of change at this time in my life but thanks to an amazing friend who has faith in my, as yet untested, abilities I have an opportunity too good to pass by.

It does mean money will be ridiculously tight over then next 12 months as my salary won't cover Connor's nursery fees so what's left of my redundancy money will have to be used for the difference.  I'll also be seriously stripping out my stash piles and selling off some stuff and we're already looking at other things we have to sell as well such as baby stuff we've just stored instead of getting rid of despite knowing there will not be another addition to the family.

That's not such a bad thing though as an adjustment in how we spend money and on what will be good for all of us.

So this is my fresh start in all things and while I can't promise I'll post daily from now on I know that I'll post more regularly.

August WIPocalypse

Late and very little to show for myself!

This summer I've been mainly being a Mum and stitching hasn't really featured in my agenda much.  We've also been here and there on trips - the Cambridge Folk Festival and visiting family and we're now off for a weeks camping.

I have done a bit of work on The Flock but that's really all there is for now...

There's only a couple of weeks to the next WIPocalypse but hopefully I'll have something to show!

July WIPocalypse

Wow, yet another month gone by!

First, I'd like to thank everyone who left a comment about my quilt top, I finished it up in time for the birthday and it was very well received.

June was the month of my annual stitching weekend away with a group of friends and yet again it was just fantastic.  So fantastic that we're now planning to have two a year!  I treated myself to a new start that weekend - Snow Fence from Raise the Roof Designs.  I didn't do too much as I started having 'white' fatigue LOL.

I worked on SamSarah's The Flock this month too, here are the first two charts done and a tiny start on the second:

And my final WIP that saw some action was my Alphabet:

The other thing I got round to doing this month was finishing up my 'What a Hoot' scissor keep. This is a Cat's Whiskers design specifially for these particular scissors. It's not my usual thing at all but I fell in love with it!

Here's the front and the scissors:

Here's the inside with the needleholder and the ribbon that you can use to attach a Clover cutter:

And here he is finished up with the scissors in place:

Rainbow Bargello quilt top

I have been getting busy with my sewing machine recently and completed this bargello quilt top at the weekend.  It's a gift for a friend of mine who has been instrumental in helping me get on track with what I want to do in life - it's her birthday next week and her favourite things are rainbows so I'm hoping she'll like it.