The Frog Has Left The Building

Well after ripping what needed it out on Friday I decided to start restitching that bit and carried on last night til it was done.
I don't feel to have done much at all this week on it, but looking at my last progress pic I took it has moved on which is the main thing, and I'm glad I've restitched what needed it, so next time around I have a fresh start on a new bit.
Going to get Celtic Autumn out in a bit and get her on the Q Snaps. I started her at the beginning of 2006 and have only stitched the last N in Autumn and a tiny bit of border lol, so hoping to make more progress this time and really get into her.

I Hate Frogs!!!!!

What little stitching I've done on my HAED Cabin In The Woods this week, I realised last night needs frogging.....
I have been doing a large area of the same colour more or less, but last night went to move onto a different colour and realised I'd stitch this large area in that colour! Which obviously is wrong!!! They are two close shades of navy blue, and I supposed I could get away with leaving it, but the shading in these designs is so critical for it to look right that I just daren't risk it, and when I've looked closer at it I can tell that it is wrong.
So last night I started ripping it out and have done about a third of what needs doing, so you know what I'm going to be doing tonight don't you....
I'm not sure yet if I'm just going to put it away as soon as I've done the frogging, or try to get it stitched back to where I was with the right colour before it goes back, will have to see what sort of mood the frogging puts me in tonight and how long it takes.
So it's doubtful that there will be a pic of Cabin this time round.
I think I need stash, or choc, or both!

A Huge Happy Dance!

I finally finished the Chatelaine Lavender Garden Mini Mandala that Julie, Sally and I were stitching as a SAL. Of course, as usual with those two super speedy stitchers I was left way behind when they had already finished theirs, but as Julie kindly pointed out I do work full-time and have a 4yrd old menace DD to deal with lol, so I guess there would be something odd if I had finished mine first lol.
I really enjoyed stitching this though, it's not colours I would usually choose to stitch, but it was sort of methodical to work on which I like, and adding the beads at the end has just made it pop.
So that's an item to cross off my wip's list, and I can move onto the next slot in the rotation, HAED Cabin In The Woods! I will hopefully get that out tonight once DD is in bed, although I do need to do a bit of stash tidying so it might not get pulled out til tomorrow, we'll see.
So now I'm onto thinking what will be my next new start lol. Some of you will already have been bored silly with me whining about wanting a bright colourful new start for ages now, but that craving hasn't gone away. Looking through the list of my wip's I realised I don't have any with bright colours and I really need one to brighten me up. I have seen a kit by Bothy Threads on Jayne's Attic called Dessert Alfresco which would satisfy the craving I know, but I've been trying to talk myself out of buying it as it comes with aida and I don't really like stitching on that anymore for big projects. It's also not something I'd usually stitch, but maybe that's why it's screaming at me so much. I've also had a look through my list of stash to see if I have anything that would meet the craving, but I just don't seem to have anything bright enough. I do have the DMC Flower Fairies Sweet Pea Fairy which has pink and purple in it and is very pretty, and I've also considered starting the Serendipity freebie in nice bright pinks and purples, or doing an initial or something in bright variagated silk. I just don't know what to do... so it's over to you! I've set up a poll and I need you to help me decide what will be my next new start! Now I'm not saying it will be started straight away, it might be a few weeks, but I just need to know I've decided and then maybe I can stop going crazy over it!

Turned The Air Blue!

This weekend I've been working on part 3 of the Heirloom Embroideries Huswif Mystery. Whilst I really like the finished stitching once it's done, I really don't enjoy the actual process on this. The fabric is so flimsy you have to be really careful as if you pull even slightly it distorts the stitches.
And last night I ended up frogging the last band THREE times before I got it right! The air in here was blue I can tell you! Anyway, it's been put away again now til next month when we see what Carol has in store for us. Please excuse the creases as I've just taken it back out of the bag as I forgot to take a pic last night before putting it away.
So next up is slot 2 in my new rotation, the Chatelaine Mini Lavender Mandala which I was stitching as a SAL with Julie and Sally. Both of them were super speedy stitchers as usual and finished there's ages back, but mrs tortoise here still has a fair bit to go lol. The plan is to stick with it til it's finished now, but if I'm not enjoying it it will be put away again and I'll move on.

Slot 1 Finished

I've been stitching on my Tomboy QS this past few nights but last night I don't know whether it was tiredness or what, but I suddenly couldn't be bothered to do anymore on her.
So I've put her away for this time in my new rotation and am going to break off to do the next part of the Heirloom Embroideries Mystery.
I really wanted to finish Tomboy last year, and then this year, but there's no way it's going to happen unless I stitch on her a lot more. But I've learned from Helen advice that it's better to do a little bit and enjoy it than force myself to do loads and hate every second. It will get done eventually and I'll be a lot happier in the meantime.
So now I'm onto the Mystery part 3, and once that's done it's back to the rotation and my Lavendar Garden Mini Mandala again!

Thanks Helen!

Thanks to lots of help from Helen humouring me about her rotation and giving me lots of advice, I now have a new rotation myself!
I have listed all my wip's and will do at least one evening but no more than about a week on each one as it's turn comes up.
At the moment I have almost all large projects, and I do want some new starts, but I am going to wait until I have got going with it first then add in some smalls as I go along.
I also have my Heirloom Embroideries Mystery to work in somewhere. It's released on a monthly basis so I think at the moment I'm going to break off from my rotation when each part is released, stitch it, then get back to the rotation again. I have this month's part waiting to be stitched, but after getting myself in a tiz last week about Tomboy when I was having a bad week I have decided to do a little bit on that first then do the mystery.
So watch this space....

Back And Brighter

Hi everyone. I'm back from a few days away with DH and DD and feeling lots better for it. Thanks so much for the comments from Sally, Julie, Jacqui, Kim and Susan, they are really appreciated. Hugs to you all.
I think life just got on top of me for a few days and I needed to take a step back and get my priorities straight again. Won't go into it all in detail but we found out which school DD will start in September and it's not the one we wanted for her. We've considered appealing but have decided after a lot of soulsearching and being told by friends who have children already at school that it is not just the school the provides the education, it it a child's upbringing. So on the plus side she will be going to school with her best friend and it is just down the road from us. I've been looking into the out of school club etc since finding out and I think she will be fine.
Work has also been a pain recently. We always seem to have a few clients at any one time who are a nightmare, very rude, and always on the phone hassling us. They don't seem to realise that when we are on the phone to them we are not able to get on with their matter! I also had had a bad episode with a couple of clients recently which shook me up and made me feel like I'd done something wrong, but this last week my boss also had a run in with the same clients which whilst it was not nice for her, did make me realise that it's the clients that have the problem, not me.
As for my stitching, last week I should have been stitching on my HAED Tomboy QS, but the mood I was in, when it came to it I just couldn't face it, and went back to my Chatelaine Lavender Mandala I'm doing as a SAL with Julie and Sally. I knew that I wouldn't stitch at all if it meant staying with Tomboy, so bang went the rotation again. That upset me as well for a few days. I know lots of people follow rotations successfully and I seem to manage for a few weeks then just lose it which I find frustrating, but I keep coming back to the fact that this is my hobby and not something that should make me unhappy. I have enough things in real life that do that lol. So rather than a strict rotation for now I'm going to stitch on things that are screaming, but keep doing at least one evening on the rug a week which I want to get finished first of my large WIP's.

Missing In Action

Feeling really down at the moment so if you don't here from me for a few days that's why. Lots of things going on that I'm struggling to deal with and posting on boards, commenting on blogs is just too hard for me right now.
Even my stitching is upsetting me so I know that I need time to regroup and sort myself out. I'll be back as soon as I can.
Love and hugs to you all.