YOTA - February 2015

Good afternoon!

I hope you are all having a nice weekend.

Its the first Saturday of the month meaning it is time for another YOTA check in hosted by Pull The Other Thread

Not much report this month, I wanted to make sure I got some stitches in on my project but all it ended up been was one length of thread and filling in a few gaps!

In case you can't tell the progress has been to the right doing some more pinky background.

Thats all for today, I will be back tomorrow to share what else I have been working on this week :)

Emma xx

Turtle Trot and YOTA January Check In

Good morning!

I don't know about you but this first full week back at work since Christmas felt like it lasted forever, sure glad it is the weekend!

Today is the day for my first check ins of the year for some of the SALs I am participating in. It just so happens the first YOTA and Turtle Trot of the year are on the same day, but that's ok as one of my projects counts for both :)

Even though we are only ten days in to the year I am pleased to say I have managed to get some stitching time in on two of my ten Turtle Trot pieces. If you missed my post about the projects I picked I have a page dedicated to at the top of my blog or you can click here.

First up in Tribal Orca by White Willow Stitching.

This was a new start for the year so there is no before photo, but this is where I have got to so far.

I'm really enjoying coming home after a busy day at work and working on this, it's nice not to have lots of colour changes and each little shape feels like a nice little achievement. Again, the photo does not do the fabric justice but it's not too far off the right colours.

Next is Twilight Magic. This is also my YOTA piece for the year. Here is how is looked at the start of the year.

Here it is now, can you tell a difference? If you look to the left you can see I have added more purple and joined that blob of pink to the edge. Not a huge amount but not bad for two hours work while been distracted from my new Big Bang DVD :)

Right, I am off to do some more stitching. With the crazy windy weather here in Scotland I have no intention of leaving the house this weekend unless I have to!

Emma xx

2015 Plans

Woohoo! I did it! I FINALLY read through all 800+ posts I had on my Bloglovin' feed! Gosh, that took some time let me tell you but so many of you have been working on such beautiful projects :)

Lets hope this time I can keep up with them all!

So, yesterday I sat down and decided to make my plans for the coming year, with a number of different SALS I am taking part in I felt I needed to get it all wrote out to make sure nothing was forgotten.

So, my main ten projects for the year which are my Turtle Trot pieces are...

1) High Tea by Heaven and Earth Designs. New Start!

This was on my 2014 but never got touched! This piece will also count as part of a Facebook SAL I am taking part in to have a new start in the new year and to get at least 250 stitches in by the end of January. Sounds easy enough but lets just wait and see if that happens haha.

2) Lily by Heaven and Earth Designs.

Here is my current progress.

I would really like to get a nice amount of this done in 2015, but I don't think it will get finished.

3) Mini the Black by Heaven and Earth Designs

Here is my current progress.

Ideally I would like at least another page finish in 2015. This is also my piece for another SAL on Facebook.

4) Row of Cats by Bothy Threads

Here is my current progress.

This is a project I would like to complete in 2015 I'm thinking if I stitch one cat a month then it should by quite doable.

5) I Found My Family In A Book by Bothy Threads.

Here is my current progress.

I'm not sure if this one will get finished, but I would at least like 50% done in 2015.

6) Tribal Orca by White Willow Stitching. New Start!

7) Tribal Panda by White Willow Stitching. New Start!

I feel with these two I should be able to get them both complete in 2015, or at the very least one of them done and the majority on the second. They have been in my stash a while so it will be nice to get them done.

8) Sew Dinky Gingerbread House by Bothy Threads

Here is my current progress.

9) Marks and Spencer Sampler. New Start!

This was a kit I bought ages ago on Ebay, it was a bargin!

10) Twilight Magic (WOXS edition) by Heaven and Earth Designs

Here is my current progress.

Ah Twilight Magic, I'm starting to feel like this one is mocking me so I REALLY want to get a nice amount done on this in 2015. I know, I know I have said that for the past two years...we shall see.

The ones with there titles in bold green (so projects 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7) will also all count toward the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL I am taking part in as they all were gifted to me at some point (or part of them was!)

Finally good old Twilight Magic will by YOTA piece again in 2015. Lets just hope it is a bit more successful this time!

As all these are things that are in my stash now this get me off to a great start for the Stitch from Stash 2015 I am taking part in. With wedding planning happening next year I would really like to be more careful with my money so this SAL will keep me on track. I have decided to set my monthly budget to £20, although the current exchange of $25 is around £16 I feel the extra £4 is fair due to how much more expensive threads are here in the UK compared to USA. I have set up my tracker in my sidebar to the right to keep updated with my spending (or lack of!)

If you want to find out more about any of the SALs I am taking part in or maybe you even want to sign up too just click the links and it will take you directly to the information pages.

I will be back tomorrow with another update about the Small SAL I plan to take part in next year too!

Emma xx

Review - YOTA 2014

Today we look at the YOTA Sal I joined this year hosted by the lovely Pull The Other Thread.

This was my second year taking part and I'm afraid to say this year was just as unsuccessful as last year LOL

My project for this was Twilight Magic by HAED which featured in the World of Cross Stitching magazine a couple of year ago.

This was my progress in January of this year...

And here is my progress in March, which sadly was the last time I touched it.

Hmm...not exactly the progress I was hoping for, but even so I know this is more than I would have done otherwise on this project.

This is one SAL I will be taking part in again next year, although at the moment I am not sure which project will be my focus...I guess we will find out on check in day next month! :D

If you want to find out more about YOTA then follow this link and maybe sign up too?! :D

Emma xx

TUSAL and YOTA Updates, and Your Last Reminder!

Good morning (just!)

Due to an unexpected day off work today (I'm having to wait in for the gas man to come check our boiler) here is my update sooner than I expected it. They are both late, as they were due on Saturday but as you know I was at a concert seeing Michael Bublé...he was amazing!

Anyway, first up, my TUSAL report...

Few more colours added to the top from my small sal and my secret stitch but not much else yet. But to say it is only the third report of the year it is filling up fast!

Secondly, my YOTA report. Sadly I can't boast progress to the same level as our dear host this month (she did loads!). But instead a few more rows of purple in the far left column and a block of pink stitches near by. Progress is progress!

You can check out my year to date progress in the YOTA tab at the top, I have month by month pictures.

I have no other stitching to show you this week. The past week seems to have been a bit of a funny one, and yesterday I was ill so had no energy at all to do anything.

Weight wise it is still going well, I lost 1.5lbs, meaning I lost my first stone since joining slimming world five weeks ago! I am very happy. I just need at least 0.5lb this week and my total overall will be two stone! :D

Today is your final day to enter my giveaway too! Don't forget! :)

Emma xo

YOTA - February 2014

Good Afternoon my lovelies!

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend, are any of you going to be watching the super bowl? Even though we live in England it is still shown on TV here and we are going to stay up late tomorrow and watch it! We have taken Monday off work too, as it's always a late one!

So here we are, February 1st which just so happens to be the first Saturday of the month meaning its YOTA time! If you have never heard of YOTA before then just follow the link and all will be explained, perhaps you might even want to join in with us too - there are over 20 of us at the moment!

So this is what my YOTA piece looked like the last time you saw it at the beginning of the year...

And here is where it is now!

As you can see I have taken the time to fill in all the gaps of the two columns to the right and filled in a little at the top too, and I can tell you now it was a pleasure to stitch something other than 310 after Mini the Black. Still not much to see but this section is mainly background, once this part is complete I will move along to the right as then we will start to find a face :D

How did you all do on your YOTA this month?

Until next time!

Emma xo

YOTA 2014 - January

Hello! I hope you are all well and sticking to any new years resolutions you've made!

Today is the first Saturday of the month, meaning it is YOTA day! If you have no idea what YOTA is then just follow this link to find out more, and maybe even join in if you fancy!

Last year I managed to finish off an old piece of stitching, which I was very happy about as I know otherwise it wouldn't have even been touched in 2013!

This year however, I have picked a much larger project. Realistically I don't think I will finish this one this year, but it will be good to make a nice amount of progress.

I have decided to make "Twilight Magic" by Heaven and Earth Designs my YOTA focus. This pattern was featured in World of Cross Stitching magazine in 2012 I believe, and was my first ever HAED start.

Sadly last year it got no love at all...

Here is where I am currently

See you here again next month for an update! Fingers crossed with a decent amount of progress!

Emma xo

#92 Short and Sweet

Well, as predicted no stitching got done this week. We spent some more time with my friend before she leaves tomorrow morning. She is so nervous and keeps getting herself all in a tizz wondering if she is doing the right thing, but she will do great, I just know it :)

Running is going well, the legs are aching but it is worth it, Team Panda have now raised a total of £285 already! Which is fantastic.


Weight loss is coming along nicely too, three weeks ago something just clicked when I stepped on the scales and I thought "that's it, no more messing lets get serious!" so far I have lost 10lbs and counting :)

There is no YOTA report this month as I have been bad bad bad and not touched my project. Oops! Perhaps I will have to put a bit extra time in to it this month to make it up to you, hehe.

As it is a bank holiday tomorrow here in England, perhaps I will get some stitching time in.

Fingers Crossed.

Until next time!

Emma xo

#85 April YOTA Report

Well it is the first Saturday of April (can you believe it?!) so that means it is YOTA time! If you haven't heard of YOTA before then click here and all shall become clear :)

This month was a success! In case you missed it I had a finish on my first YOTA piece of the year! Hooray!

Tigger Bookmark - Done!

So, then came the decision on what to stitch next as part of the YOTA, well after much debate over two projects I decided on Thomas Kinkade - Stepping Stone Cottage.

Here is where I am the last time I stitched on this - last August! How terrible! This should also help me with one of my aims for 2013 as I want 50% done by the end of the year, not sure how likely that is but it is always good to have goals in life :)

So fingers crossed next report I will have made more progress to share with you.

Until next time!

Emma xo

#83 - Spring, Can You Hurry Up Please?

Well we woke up yesterday to MORE snow. Now what you must understand is I love snow, but equally I love Spring, we are coming to the end of March - its Easter next weekend! I want to see the Daffodils and see the grass turning a lush green colour and start to grow again - enough is enough Mother Nature!

Along with the snow we had some high wind, creating lots of drifts in the garden, it sort of looked like when you are icing a cake and you haven't smoothed it out properly and you get those little peaks.

I also had to share this photo, I didn't take it but this was in Queensbury, a place known for getting the snow bad around here, this is where my Grandad's party was last Sunday - glad I don't have to be there today!

Where did I leave the car???

On to stitching!

Technically I probably shouldn't be showing you this until April, but I couldn't wait! I finished my first YOTA piece! If you don't know what YOTA is click here.

As I am not the neatest stitcher in the world (shocker, I know) I decided to hide the back by backing a piece of card with this cute Disney fabric I had in my stash.

So, after so long this is now done, I am going to make my aim for the next YOTA report to decide what my next project will be, I have a couple of ideas, both of which are much larger than this so they should see me out the rest of the year.

I just checked the weather site and it is saying the snow is due to start again tonight and we are getting it until Thursday!! Roll on Easter weekend so I can stay in with my stitching, DVDs, and yummy food :)

Have a great week everyone!

Emma xo

#76 YOTA March

Can you believe March is here already?! As today is Saturday that means its time for my YOTA update.

If you are thinking "YOTA? What the heck is YOTA?" then click here and all shall be made clear.

Here was my project last time...

February YOTA

And here it is now! I am happy with the progress, to say my stitching time has been somewhat thin on the ground of late I still think I can hold my head up high with this and say yeah!

March YOTA

A few of you guessed last month what this was, and it should be even more obvious this month ;) hehehe

You can see my full year long YOTA progress here.

Also make sure you check the other 20 stitchers taking part - we are growing in number each month!

I will be back soon with the winner of my giveaway...

Emma xo

#68 YOTA February 2013

Well as today is the first Saturday of the month then that means it is YOTA day!

If you have no idea what I am talking about or would like to see the other 19 stitchers and their progress then click HERE

So, here I was at the last YOTA...

January YOTA

And here I am now! A fair amount of progress no? :D hehe. Hopefully if I can keep this sort of pace up then I will be able to get this finished before the end of the year and work on another neglected piece!

February YOTA

I hope you all have a great weekend and if you haven't already there is still time to sign up for the travelling pattern I will be sending out next week - just click here and leave a comment :)

I should be back tomorrow with some more progress for you all!

Happy Stitching! xo

#60 YOTA! Jan 2013

Well yesterday was the first YOTA hosted by Pull The Other Thread. I decided to work on something that has been neglected for such a long time.

This was one of the first kits I bought when I decided to start Cross Stitching again. It was a case of what I could get my hands on at the time. I got about 20 stitches in then got distracted by something else...

Stupidly I forgot to take a picture before I started so for this month I only have the after photo...

So, fingers crossed I will have made more progress by the time February YOTA is upon us.

Before I go I also want to recommend a new blog to you, http://spectrumstitching.blogspot.co.uk/ This is a fairly new blog, only starting in December but she does some great projects (if you are members of the groups on Facebook you may recognise them) so take a look if you have the time :)

Will update again later on the rest of my stitching this week

Enjoy your Sunday

Emma xo

#59 2013 TUSAL No1 & Goodies!

Good evening, here is my first TUSAL of 2013 hosted by Daffycat - this year I am using an old Yankee Candle jar to hold them :)

This week the postman has been ever so good to me with all these arriving over the last couple of days. I ordered the 365 Cross Stitch at the end of last year. It has patterns in from Joan Elliott and Margaret Sherry along with loads of others. It does have a few patterns which I already have from magazines, but still plenty I know I will stitch eventually.

The rest are from Sewandso - they had a sale so how could I say no?! I also got a few more things but I can't show you them as the people who they are intended for might see... ;) hehehe.

Tomorrow is the first ever YOTA hosted by Pull The Other Thread. Basically once a month everyone works and posts pictures of long overdue UFOs in the hope by the end of the year we have made some progress! I have something in mind, it is pretty old, I don't think I have ever worked on it while blogging, I will need to find it first of course!

So far there are 17 of us taking part, click the link if you would like to join in the fun or find out more :)

I will post again at the end of the weekend with my stitching progress.

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Emma xo