Wednesday, December 31, 2008

How'd I Do? Looking Back at 2008

Last December, I posted my stitching goals for this year (http://blog.fiberholic.net/2007/12/stitchy-goals-for-2008.html). It's time to call myself to account and see how I did.

1. Complete the Medieval Town Mandala. I started it in May of 2006 and have been working steadily on it since then. It's about time it was done.

Not done, but I did make progress on it throughout the year.

2. Work two pieces that have been languishing for over a year into my rotation. Both are quite a ways toward completion. One is The Traveler by Teresa Wentzler. The other is a Barbara and Cheryl house.

Still not done, but will be in my rotation as I complete things in January.

3. Finish Crewel Choices. This has an actual deadline of the end of January.

Done!

4. Finish Celtic Knot. This one also has a deadline of the beginning of March. It's for my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary.

Done!

5. Complete an ornament a month. It doesn't matter the method. Just make an ornament each month instead of bunching them all up at the end of the year.

Well, I did end up doing twelve, but they were bunched up at the end of the year and were mostly temari. I'm going to try to get better this coming year.

6. Complete the Take It Further Challenge. This means incorporating whatever the challenge is into a piece every month.

I managed to complete the January one and then got snowed under with other things.

7. Complete, on time, the two GCC's I've signed up for that start in the next couple of weeks. One is the 17th Century English Sampler and the other one is the Swiss Sampler.

English Sampler was completeded - Swiss Sampler was not started.

8. Make a new stocking for my husband. His got fused together in our last move and it's not well finished. He needs a new one.

Not yet started.
9. Complete Lady of the Flag to be raffled for charity.


Significant progress, but not finished.

10. Make significant progress on the Chatelaine pieces I'm working on that are not specificially listed otherwise in these goals.

Made progress on Tuscany but not the Victorian Garden.

11. Complete Midi Mystery 2. It was started in July of 2006. About time I got it done.

Done as of a couple of days ago.

12. Make one goldwork piece.

Did not make, BUT ... I received Luck of the Irish with its kit in the mail a couple of days ago. It will go into my rotation also in March.

13. Stitch Velo Bibendum for my husband. I haven't made anything specifically for him in a while. It's time.

It's started.

14. Make myself a purse. I don't have a single item of stitching that I wear or carry with me that's completed.

Not yet started.

15. Stitch a design created by my daughter Tory.

Done! It's the project for CyberPointers' January program.

Obviously, I could have done better. On the other hand, I could have done worse. Overall, I completed 48 pieces this year, including some big ones. I'll write my goals for next year tomorrow. They'll probably be overly ambitious too, but what's the worth of a goal if you don't try to stretch yourself?

Triangular Additions


The pieces of this I've been doing lately are big, so it looks like I've made a lot of progress. I added a second pipe and three triangles. The next bits are going to look like less done because they're all small Jessicas.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

After Two and a Half Years...


Add ImageIt's DONE! I finished Midi Mystery 2 yesterday. My husband already has the frame and just needs to order some mats and do the lacing and such. The one thing I'd change on this is the background fabric, given a choice. I like the lavender plants in the corners and I looove the Desert Shadows color of Waterlilies. This is my largest Chatelaine finish to date, even though I've been working for a longer time on Medieval Town Mandala.

Doors


This week I added what look to me like doors to the buildings to either side of the central one. I feel like this is going more quickly now than part five did. Maybe I'll be able to accelerate it some.

All But the Beading

As of Friday, I was soooo close to finishing this. Everything but the beading is done and it was calling to me, so when it came up next in my rotation (yesterday), I just did a marathon beading session on it. I'll show you the results tomorrow.

One More Stripe


This week, the Lady's flag got one more stripe of red at the bottom and brown on the opposite edge of her skirt. It feels good to see her actually progressing again, and she'll be given a higher priority in my rotation as soon as the Totales Mysterie is done - hopefully by the end of the week.

Jeanne's Seamy Side


Yet another holiday finish to show you- I finished my work on Jeanne's block for the On the Seamy Side round robin. This is my last block to work on, and I had a bit of a problem - all that was left to work on seam-wise was a teeny two inch seam. I did it, though. I also did a flower in the stitch of the month - Cretan stitch. Then i added a ribbon around her tree because the center looked a little naked compared to the rest. The ribbon's actually the tie from Rose Anne's Christmas cracker that she sent me. I hope Jeanne likes the block. i think it looks really pretty.