The bears :)

Here they are at last a very long overdue pic of my completed bears :)

I started this project way back in 1991!!!! when pregnant with Mel and at the time I was a very new stitcher and basically it was to big a project for to tackle at the time.

Fast forward to January this year and I decided that it was about time I finished my oldest PHD so out it came and I spent my weekends with it until 10 June when I put the last stitches in.

I really enjoyed working on itthis time around and was a little sad for the journey to end but happy that it had after so long

June progress & July goals

For June I said....

I didn't set any goals for June other than finishing my weekend project

For July I'd like to
Get back into my routine as much as I can
Pick a new weekend project
Finish off a few beading projects
Start the new paid project that's arrived
Get some blog posts up!

As I said in my last post I had a very, very busy month in June and so stitching time vanished most of the time and I had one very important beading project to complete which caused me no end of problems but I did it.

May progress & June Goals (yes I know it's July!)

For May I said

Have my Birthday start   Done
Finished the second paid project  Done and I'll get round to posting pics
Work on the Sparklies model  No
Catch up on my ornaments  No
Finish my travel project  I think I did
Pick a new travel project  I think I did!!

For June I'd like to

I never actually got round to setting goals for June other than wanting to finish my weekend project which I did and have yet to wash and take pics of!!

June was a very, very busy month for me and I was away from home for most of it which is one reason I didn't post goals the other reason is that I have a new man in my life and so we've been spending A LOT of time together when I've been home so not much crafting of any sort took place.

April progress & May goals

For April I said
Finish March's ornament   No I've had a few hiccups with it 
Bead April's ornament    Not got that far yet :(
Work on the Sparklies model   No not touched it :(
Have a new start   This one I've done but only because it's a paid project (and I've finished it)


For May I'd like to
Have my Birthday start
Finished the second paid project
Work on the Sparklies model
Catch up with the ornaments
Finish my travel project
Pick a new travel project


I stitched every day in April, had 2 new starts and 2 finishes one of which was a new start and worked on 5 projects in total over the month.
The house is still in complete turmoil as the decorating is done after the damp proofing because it's only getting worked on a couple of days a week as the help is available.
The start of the month saw Lucy and Teejay visiting and my Mum had her hip replacement done so much time was taken up with hospital visiting.
Bowling season is underway now so stitching time drops but so will my weight over the summer :)

Current PHD total = 30

March progress and April Goals

For March I said
Finish the model I'm working on  I finished both of them
Finish the model for Sparklies  No :(  didnt even get to pick it up
Bead an ornament   It's started but not finished

For April I'd like to
Finish March's ornament
Bead April's ornament
Work on the Sparklies model
Have a new start

I stitched every day in March mostly on the two AAN models but I did have a few diversions.  I had 4 new starts and 4 finishes during the month and since the 8th I've done 14,273 stitches (new challenge in a facebook group)
The last few days of the month saw the house in turmoil as the damp proof was done on one side so for a few days either side I was either packing and covering things up or uncovering them, unpacking and cleaning up which is why I'm a day later than normal with this post, I only uncovered the puter this afternoon and will have to move everything again in a week or two to decorate.
It's also the reason I didn't finish my March ornament

Current PHD total = 30

February progress & March goals

For Feb I said
Start the next model that has arrived   Done
Finish the model for Sparklies   Nop, not even got halfway
Get to the left hand edge of my weekend project  Yes :)
Get to the edges on Peacock Cypher   No :(
Bead an ornament   Done

For March I would like to
Finish the model I'm working on
Finish the model for Sparklies
Bead an ornament


I stitched every day in February on 6 different projects.  I had 1 finish and 3 new starts 2 of which are models so no sharing as yet but I will as soon as they are released.

January progress & February goals

For January I said

Finish the model   Done and I can post it in a couple of days
Pick a weekend project   Done and good progress made
Have a couple of starts beside my Jan 1st one  I've had 6 in total!!
Pick a new Monday night/travel project  I'm on number 3 thanks to LOTS of sitting round the hospital waiting 
Bead an ornament   Done and the pic will appear

For February I'd like to
Start the next model that has arrived
Finish the model for Sparklies
Get to the left hand edge on my weekend project
Get to the edges on Peacock Cypher
Bead an ornament


As I said above I had 6 starts in January, 3 of those have been my Monday night/travel project (aka sitting round the hospital, dentist, Docs etc) and of those 3 I've finished 2.  I also got the model for AAN finished and as today is the release date for the chart I can share the pic next time I blog.

I stitched every day in January but I have no idea how long for.   For a few years now I've been thinking about not timing my stitching but couldn't quite bring myself to do it or I'd think that it would just be odd to stop halfway through a year.   I did start the year off with a stopwatch on my lap but after a couple of weeks of not getting round to printing off a new sheet and having bits of paper with hours written down and a chance remark off a friend I thought it was time.   I have however spent most of the month counting my stitches, a group I'm in on Facebook had a snowball fight and for every 1000 stitches you did you got 5 snowballs to throw and you had to do 50 stitches for everyone you got hit with but they counted for 1000.   I managed to throw 60 snowballs so you do the maths as to how many stitches I did (roughly)

Current PHD total = 28

2017 goals report & 2018 goals

For 2017 I said
Keep up with the TUSAL assuming it carries on   Yes mostly I posted late tho :(
Keep up with Gifted Gorgeousness    I think I only missed December
Finish Santa's Village (fed up with saying this so def going to do it this year!)   Not quite :(   I was doing well with it until the Family sampler arrived and then the other model
Finish more than I start    No missed it by a couple
Get my PHD's to below 20 (I've been working on getting the number down for 10 years now and I'm well as I started with 47!!!)    No :(  I think I ended the year with the same number which is ok
Finish a TW   Not this year
Finish a Silver Lining flower   Yes My Daffs are a Silver Lining design
Stitch at least 6 kits from stash    Errm I can't remember!  I forgot to note if it was a kit or not


For 2018 I'd like to
Keep up with the TUSAL if it happens
Keep up with Gifted Gorgeousness
Finish Santa's village
Finish more than I start
Get my PHD's to below 20
Finish a TW
Stitch at least 6 charts from stash
Stitch at least 6 kits from stash
Bead at least one ornament a month so I have some in hand next Christmas

I stitched for an astonishing 1,084 hours 48 minutes in 2017 which is the highest amount ever for me in all the time I've been keeping track.  I guess being single has some advantages!  It works out to an average of just under 3 hours a day
Over the course of the year I had 34 new starts and 32 finishes 3 of those were ones I started the year with

December progress & January Goals

For December I said
Finish the Mini Poppies   Done
Finish the Monday night project   Done
Start the new model that's on it's way  Done and it's almost half way
Not start anything else   Nop I started 2 other things (but I also finished them)
Decide on Jan 1st start   Done

For January I'd like to
Finish the model
Pick a weekend project
Have a couple more new starts beside my Jan 1st one
Pick a new Monday night/ travel project
Bead an ornament

I stitched every day during December for a total of 92 hours 25 minutes.   I had 4 new starts and 6 finishes over the month

Current PHD total =25