Livin' La Needle Loca

 ...getting more momentum on my projects. I finished the stitching of More Beach: Specs: Started 1/5/2023 Finished 1/29/20232 Design by Hands On Design This project will probably become a pillow. This piece is too big the hang in my studio beam display and I simply don't have enough wall space to hang my completed projects. :( Pillows, on the other hand, I can pile into baskets, that I can move from place to place. I'm going to review my current WIPs and decide whether I have any potential IDJs (It's Dead, Jim) and if there are any that can be completed quickly. I have that Sun quilt to start and I;m feeling a little guilty starting something new for me when I have some long-standing WIPs in the queue.

 ...things are still sparse in the garden. This barrel cactus is the happiest plant in the backyard right now. It handled the remodel better than we did. There are a few remaining chile peppers on one of the plants. The Husband is busy reorganizing the containers in the backyard and culling out the ones we no longer need. The backyard needs some serious work, but it's been too cold to stay outside for long periods of time. We're looking forward to next week. The wall repair begins on Monday!

 ...it was an eventful week. On Tuesday, we flew to Los Angeles to attend the funeral of my mother's oldest sister. It was the first time that I was on an airplane since before the pandemic. (The Husband has flown a couple of times since then, so it wasn't new to him.) It was an overnight trip as we still haven't found a cat-sitter for our kitties. It was a nice service and we spent time afterwards catching up with relatives we haven't seen in a while. I queued up last week's Wednesday post so I wouldn't miss it. I'm trying hard to post at least a couple of times a week,  so this was one way of accomplishing that. On Monday, the window company replaced our last window for the remodel. We still have to get the wall repaired under the window, and we have people scoping out that work today. I've been working primarily on the More Beach cross stitch piece: It's going a little slow because I'm not always working on ...

 ...blog and run. When I was reorganizing the upstairs storage cabinets, I found a box that contained some of my childhood things. I used this pink jewelry box to store my treasures. I think it may have belonged to my mother at some point. It's missing a few rhinestones, but it's in pretty good shape otherwise. This aeonium is thriving in our courtyard:

 ...gradually getting back to it. My main project this last week has been More Beach, a cross stitch project: I've started planning a new quilt using fabrics from two lines. I love them both, but I'm partial to the Sun & Sea line. Right: Sun & Sea fabric line, designed by David Galchutt for QT Fabrics Left: Season of the Sun fabric line, designed by David Galchutt for Benartex WIPs Roll Call Worked On: More Beach (cross stitch) Finished the quote and working on the upper portion of the design Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Still working on the sleeves. No Work This Week: Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Singularity Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Waiting for Finishing: Bee Hive Violets (cross stitch) Big Bee, Little Bee mini (cross stitch) Finishing wor...

 ...and the last catch-up post for 2022. Finished: 12/18 Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come! Quilt Books Glimmer of Deception, Heather G Harris This Place of Wonder, Barbara O’Neal Five Winters, Kitty Johnson Before She Dies, Rita Herron Dying to Tell, Rita Herron Her Dying Breath, Rita Herron Worth Dying For, Rita Herron Well of Souls, Linsey Hall Legacy, Nora Roberts The Widow, Kaira Rouda The Last Dragon King, Leia Stone The Broken Elf King, Leia Stone Started: Nothing Works In Progress: Beach Please (cross stitch) Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Lemongrass weaving [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ]    Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come! Quilt (quilting) ...

 ...catching up. Finished: No crafts completed Books Girl, Forgotten, Karin Slaughter Gray Tidings, Hailey Edwards Saviour of the Pack, Heather G Harris City of the Night, Linsey Hall Spells and Slip-ups, Annie Anderson Magic and Mayhem, Annie Anderson All the Beautiful Brides, Rita Herron All the Pretty Faces, Rita Herron All the Dead Girls, Rita Herron Glimmer of the Other, Heather G Harris Glimmer of Hope, Heather G Harris Glimmer of Death, Heather G Harris Started: Nothing Works In Progress: Beach Please (cross stitch) Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Lemongrass weaving [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ]    Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come! Quilt (quilting) Singularity Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  It's Dead, Jim (IDJ): Phat Fiber Weaving (Weav...

 ...continuing the recap catch-up. Finished: No crafts completed Books Little White Lies, Rita Herron Dead Little Darlings, Rita Herron Listen to Me, Tess Gerritsen A Killer’s Kiss, Helen Harper Odd Time for Sophie Feegle, Gwen DeMarco Angel Fire, Ella Summers Angel Fury, Ella Summers Angel Fever, Ella Summers Fairy Magic, Ella Summers Ghouls Don’t Scamper, Kim McDougall Protection of the Pack, Heather G Harris Guardians of the Pack, Heather G Harris The Boardwalk Bookshop, Susan Mallery Started: 10/1 Beach Please (cross stitch) 10/27 Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come! Quilt (quilting) Works In Progress: Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Lemongrass weaving [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravelry ]   Singularity Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  It's Dead, Jim (IDJ): ...

 ...guess I totally forgot about the recaps for a while. :( Finished: 9/23 Sparkle Pink Handspun [ Ravelry ] Alpaca Bamboo-firestar Merino (6 oz.) from Ranch of the Oaks 250 yds. chain-ply, 13 WPI Little Orange Fish (cross stitch) Books Beautiful Forevers, Jessie Gussman Precious Memories, Jessie Gussman Misty Mornings, Jessie Gussman Magical Twilights, Jessie Gussman Sweet Afternoons, Jessie Gussman Tender Memories, Jessie Gussman Desperation in Death, JD Robb In the Pines, Kendra Elliot Frozen Souls, Rita Herron Stolen Angels, Rita Herron Hidden Bones, Rita Herron Pretty Little Killers, Rita Herron Good Little Girls, Rita Herron Started: 9/19 Sparkle Pink Handspun [ Ravelry ] Works In Progress: Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Lemongrass weaving [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ]  Pacific Waters tapestry (weaving) [ Ravel...

 ...in the category of In The Eye Of The Beholder. I am trying to blend two fabric lines into one quilt. Although the fabrics come from two fabric companies, they are both designed by the David Galchutt and both feature suns. Left: Season of the Sun fabric line, designed by David Galchutt for Benartex Right: Sun & Sea fabric line, designed by David Galchutt for QT Fabrics I have a slight preference for the Sun & Sea fabrics, but I think i might be able to get the two lines to blend together in one quilt. In the course of putting things back in order after the remodel, I went through my everyday/costume jewelry to see what I could donate. Since I'm no longer working, I don't need that many necklaces and bracelets. I found a bunch of jewelry that I made from kits that I purchased at cross stitch festivals over the years. Apparently, I never documented them or photographed them  (oops) with one exception. Specs: Started ...

 ...it's rainy and cold and all I want to do is curl up in a blacket. When I'm not trying to stay warm, I'm working on More Beach. I started it after I finished Beach Please. This is its current state. I know it looks weird that I'm working on multiple lines of text at a time, but it's the simplest way to make sure that the lines and letters are separate correctly. I've never been accused of following a pattern in the normal way. LOL! WIPs Roll Call Worked On: More Beach (cross stitch) Started 1/5. Working on the quote in the middle of thepiece Effortless Cardigan (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Still working on the sleeves. No Work This Week: Illusion hexagons (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Look Through My Window quilt for me (quilting) Ocean Ripples Wrap (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Singularity Shawl (knitting) [ Ravelry ] Waiting for Finishing: Bee Hive Violets (cross s...

 ...a good start to getting back to normal craft activity! This is Beach Please, destined to become another pillow. Specs: Started 10/1/2022 Finished 1/4/2023 Design by Hands On Design I started another beach pattern from this designer because I enjoyed this one so much. Also in keeping with getting back to normal activities, here is this morning's sunrise. I love getting back to sky photos.

 ...I tried to create this post for Eye Candy Friday, but realized that I didn't have a good way of embedding Flickr image links from my iPad. Need to research if it's possible. Our garden languished during the remodel. The backyard was a staging area for the bathroom and kitchen remodels. In addition, The Husband had to move all of the plant containers into the center to allow the painters to easily access the areas to be painted on the exterior. A few things managed to survive. The purple salvia did not seem to mind at all: The dwarf alstroemeria is still blooming, but the flowers look a little worse for wear. The backyard lavender is somewhere in between the two. It's blooming, but it hasn't grown very many stalks. We're hoping that the plants recover once the pots are distributed around the yard.

 …trying to blog regularly since 2006! This is a short post, but I wanted to acknowledge the anniversary of the blog.  No contests this time, I’m just happy I remembered to post. 😀  And I’ve managed to blog a few times this week. So far, so good!  

...let's get back to it! I've been able to work on two projects on-and-off since my last post in November.  The Beach Please project is closest to being done: The other project is the Effortless Cardigan. I can't take a photo of it right now because I'm working on the sleeves, two at a time on circular needles. I don't do New Year's resolutions, but I do set intentions or goals. I adjust them as the year goes on to account for things that get done. My 2023 craft intentions, in no particular order: Take more photos of other things other than craft projects. Finish my Valley of the Heart's Delight sampler design. Keep up with my finishing work. Do another mermaid project, maybe another Mirabilia or maybe modify a mermaid design to use on a new Christmas stocking for me. Get my studio back in order and keep it that way. We used it as a living and clean up space during the remodel and it's a mess! ...

 ...long time no 'e. It's been a zoo, but we're finally on the other side of the remodel (mostly). We are still waiting for a window to arrive and our new front door will be installed on Friday. However, the rest is done and we are so happy. To give you an idea of the work we did: Today, they picked up the POD container we used to store our furniture and things. Its the first time since July that I've been able to park in the driveway. We've mostly put things back in place. Now that Christmas is over, we'll get the rest of it our of boxes. Anyway, we're glad there are no more daily work crews and we're very happy to be out of the chaos! My last finished object of 2022 was the quilt for my Aunt Rachel. I visited mom after Christmas and was able to give it to her in person. She loved it! This is "Sun, Sun, Sun, Here We Come." Specs: Started 10/27/2022 Finished 12/18/2022 Based on Baby Honu by Lisa Boyer ...