WIPocalypse October 2018 Check-In

I worked on a bunch of things this month as I've settled back into a 5-day rotation on my projects, which seems to be working pretty well.

First up was Key to My Heart.  Design is from Tempting Tangles, and it's stitched 1/2 on Briar Rose 32-count linen from Hand-Dyed by Stephanie.  Floss is Black Current hand-dyed floss from Colour and Cotton.  I finished up almost all of page 3 - there's just page 4 and a bit of the motif that splits across those last 2 pages to finish up.

Next up, I worked on my Desert Mandala from Chatelaine.  I'm super pleased to report I fixed the burn hole in this upper right-hand corner, and then actually made more progress on the stitching, finishing up the border and the motifs in the upper right-hand corner this go-round. 

I then had a new start - this is Eternia with artwork by Aimee Stewart and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs. 

 I ordered this as a quick-stitch version, but then decided to crop it down even more, and to also remove the background as I went along.  I've started this on a Colour and Cotton hand-dyed 28-count evenweave, which I think will be perfect for the moody gray-blue background. I just got her face finished up as she rests against the horse's neck but I love it!

Next I worked on Autumn Fairy by Joan Elliott and got most of her head/hair/head-dress done. I'm stitching this on a hand-dyed evenweave from Chromatic Alchemy's FOTM club from last year, in the colorway Feronia. 

Next up was another new start, and another HAED piece - Lady of the Woods with artwork by Steven Roberts.  This one will keep me busy through the end of the month but so far I'm really enjoying working on her!

WIPocalypse September Check-In

I think, thanks to randomly adding a day here and a day there in Arbitrary August, I wound up with a bunch of finishes for September.

October Word Play by Brenda Gervais (which isn't really a WIPocalypse project since I started it in September 2018 as a new start):

Mill Hill's Best Friend Santa (also not really a WIPocalypse project since it was started this year too).

Welcome Autumn by The Drawn Thread - which was a WIPocalypse project, albeit a small one. 

I also spent a few days working diligently on my Witch Way from Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Molly Harrison.  I do love these color so!  I moved on to page 2 of... I think... 12?  This is the mini version, but I don't think the detail is suffering a bit from being a "mini" on this one.  Absolutely LOVE working on it!

July 2018 WIPocalypse Check-In

Just two projects that I've worked on this month:

First, I finished stitching Believe, which is a Mill Hill Buttons and Beads kit.  Super fun to stitch and I love the finished product.  I replaced the perforated paper with a 14-count hand-dyed Aida in Balsam from Hand-Dyed Fabrics by Stephanie (which was part of a Stitchy Box from 2017).  I also went ahead and finished it up with a "faux Xmas package" finish look this weekend.  I love how it turned out and can't wait to display it over the holidays.

The other project I've worked on in July is my Witch Way full-coverage piece, charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Molly Harrison.  Here's what it will look like when it's finished:

And here's where I am currently.  Still working on page 1, and while I thought I might be able to get a page finish this month, I don't think that'll actually happen in the next couple of days, so I'll hold that over until September. 

Stitching Progress

I used late June to do a bit of a check-in on my stitching projects to see where I was with regards to my goals for my yearly stitching resolutions:

I am trying to get my active WIPs down to 12 by 2019.  Good progress on that front, as I am down to 13 as of this week. I finished the stitching for the Mill Hill Buttons and Beads "Believe" Santa. It needs a press and to be fully finished, but I'm counting it as done.  Super fun to stitch, but whew - a lot of work as it has tons of beads and is basically full coverage.  I did switch out the perforated paper that came with the kit to put this on a 14-count hand-dyed Aida.  I've got some blueish-green batik fabric to back this with.  Undecided on a flat fold or a little pillow, but since I'm waiting on the fabric, I've got time to decide.

Also got my The Winter Garden back from the framer and they did an amazing job - I absolutely LOVE how this one came out.  The combo of that antique barn red mat with the slightly distressed, whitewash-looking frame absolutely delights me!  I couldn't wait until the cold weather to display this, so it's out on my sideboard already. 

My other goal was to get a page finish on all of my full coverage pieces this year too.  I've currently got 4 in progress: Winter's Encounter, Six of Swords, A Stitching Shelf, and Witch Way.  All but Witch Way have had a page finish, so I'm tackling that one next.  Here's the current progress:

I'm going to work on this for the remainder of July or until I get this page done, whichever comes first. 

I'm looking forward to taking a bit of a break from monogamous stitching to participate in Arbitrary August.  That'll be a randomly-generated WIP to work on each day in the month (minus a few days I'm on travel), so I'll be able to at least put a few stitches in multiple different pieces and should be a nice way to work towards my final goal of the year which is to touch all of my pieces at least once. 

Still on the fence about a new start for my birthday this month.  I'm so close to reaching my magic number of 12 active WIPs, I sort of hate to bump that number up again - and since I've got a couple of weeks until my birthday, I 'm going to mull it over a while longer. 

May 2018 WIPocalypse check-in

I attempted to have a (mostly) monogamous May project month, and I'm actually pretty pleased with my progress.

I finished up A Bowl Full of Scaries.  Pattern by Plum Street Samplers.  Stitched on 36-count linen in the Legacy colorway from Picture This Plus, using Colour and Cotton hand-dyed threads.

Super happy with this finish since it puts me firmly with 3 out my hopeful 6 finishes this year.  I have also FFO'ed it, but I need to get a photo of that apparently.  That finish only took me until May 5th, so I switched over to working on A Stitching Shelf next. 

Also very happy to have achieved a page finish on this one.  (Page 2 done out of a gazillion).  Artwork by Aimee Stewart and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  I'm stitching this 1 over 1 full  crosses on Magic Guide 25-count. 

Finally I tackled my Desert Mandala Chatelaine.  I started and finished the first landscape vignette, which is at the top center - Monument Valley, I think?  I've got three days left in May to put in a few more stitches on this one, so I will probably tackle the triangular shaped section just above the landscape before I put this one away until June.  Absolutely LOVING working on this one!

On deck for June, I'm looking at trying for a page finish for Page 1 of my HAED/Six of Swords project, as well as trying for another page finish (or other small item finish) before moving back to the Chatelaine at the end of the month. 

April 2018 WIPocalypse Update

April was full of a lot of travel and work stuff - but happily, I think those are going to slow down for at least a couple of months.  Here's what I got accomplished:

I spent 3 five-day sessions on A Stitching Shelf.  (Artwork by Aimee Stewart, charting by Heaven and Earth Designs in the "regular" color but large format layout - purchased before I realized I wanted to use a PDF reader to work off of.)  I had page 1 finished and I've been working on page 2.... slowly... like a glacier.....

I have this on tap to work on in May for at least 10 days as well in the hopes I might be able to get a page finish (unlikely, but hey! you never know.)

I put in almost no stitches on a travel project - A Bowl Full of Scaries from Plum Street Samplers.  Seriously - I finished up the tree and started the second one, and started the snake border.  I'm not sure why I think I'll be able to have the mental focus to work on stitching projects after a day on the trade floor, but I haul one along every.single.time.  Clearly, however, I do not. 

Nicely enough, my random number generator felt I should get a second crack at this one, so it's also on tap for next month for a 5-day rotation. 

As usual, I did put in 5 days on my Desert Mandala from Chatalaine.  I'm concentrating right now on the upper landscape section.  I got the border mostly worked for that and started filling in some of the rocks - absolutely LOVING the colors in this one!

Finally, my handy-dandy random number generator picked Shoot the Moon for me to work on for the remaining 5 days of April.  This is another Heaven and Earth charted piece, a mini with the background removed.  I'm stitching it on a gradient hand-dyed evenweave using all the same color - 310 - for the stitches. 

The fabric color is a bit washed out but I did get the central figure started this time around.  Very happy with the progress on this one!

In May, I plan to work on: 

• A Stitching Shelf (two 5-day rotations)
• A Bowl Full of Scaries
• Welcome Autumn
• Desert Mandala
• 12 Days of Christmas

February 2018 WIPocalypse Round Up

Technically a day late since it's the 1st of March, but having finally succumbed to the cold/flu/virus/plague thing making its way around the country, I'm feeling like only a day behind is an achievement right now.

I was surprisingly productive in February with 1 new start, 2 finishes and a page finish on a full coverage piece.

First up, I started and finished Simply Autumn by The Drawn Thread.

I stitched this 1 over 2 on 32-count Dirty Linen and substituted all the called-for Gentle Arts threads with Colour and Cotton hand-dyed floss.  I also omitted the sampler alphabet - I loved the little white farmhouse and wanted this to be another small for my fall display.  I need to fully finish this, but I'll do that this weekend.

I also finished up the Shepherd's Bush Every Heart pincushion. 

This was stitched 1 over 2 using the kit-supplied flosses (a mix of cottons and silks) on the kit fabric, a 32-count linen. Stitched as charted, and I did get this one fully finished and ready to display. 

I also managed a page finish on A Stitching Shelf.  This is page 1 of a gazillion. 

Otherwise, I continued to work on my Desert Mandala by Chatelaine.  The first interior border is finished (the cacti), and I started work on the speciality stitch deco-style border which I'll focus on again when it comes out for its 5-day rotation this month.

Finally, my plans for March include another 5-day rotation on my Chatelaine, two 5-day rotations on Six of Swords, and a few other random choices slotted in as I go.

Stitching Update: January 23, 2018

Last week, I had 5 days slated to work on my Desert Mandala from Chatelaine.   Here's my stopping point after those 5 days' worth of time with it:

I've finished about half of the cacti motifs around the center panel.  These are almost all worked in silks (so pretty! so soft!) with the exception of the little orange blossoms and the pale yellow on the sagebrush. I'm stitching this on a 28-count Lugana in the Calypso colorway from Picture This Plus fabrics. I'm at the point where it's time to roll the fabric up so I can work on the top portion, which is what I will do next go-round and try to finish up the remaining cacti motifs.

I think my plan once those are done will be to work just on the top half until that is finished and then move the fabric again to work on the bottom half.  (I say this like I'll be zipping through that, but this is a BIG project with lots of detail, so it'll be a while).  The next sections to be worked on this will be a speciality stitch octagon-shaped border around the cacti, and then the exterior landscape motifs and the feathers that go between them.  

Once I had finished work for this rotation on my Chatelaine, I moved over to work on another full coverage piece.  This is Six of Swords from Stephanie Pui-Mun Law's Tarot collection, charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  I'm stitching this on 25-count Easy Guide fabric.  I had the first 800 stitches put in to this already, and I'll be working on this through the end of the month of January (albeit a bit hit and miss since I've got some travel coming up).

I'll see how far I get on this one, but I'd like to try for a page finish by the end of February, if I can, to keep up with my personal Year of WIPs/WIPocalypse goals of a page finish on each of my full-coverage pieces in 2018.  (For those of you keeping score, there will be 6 full-coverage pieces on the go this year.)

Stitching Update: January 16, 2018

I rotated back to my Winter's Encounter project for the past 5 days and made some good progress on it.

I managed to finish all of page 1 (which is the top left-hand corder of the piece), and added another 300 stitches just below that page to start page...uh.... 5, I think it is?  Whatever the next row of the pattern would be - and that puts me just over the halfway mark in that first column of stitches!

This one will be on hold for the next 5 days while I work on my Chatelaine Desert Mandala.  I think I will probably work on that and then switch off to another full coverage piece, my Six of Swords tarot card image by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law for the remainder of the month. 

I'd like to see if I can make a page finish happen on Six of Swords while it's up for rotation as my "Air" element project in the Full Coverage Fanatics group.

Stitching Update: January 4, 2017

A quick update on my stitching progress for this week.

• While it's not cross-stitch, it is stitching.  For my New Year, New Start, I began my holiday gift from last year from my SIL/BIL/nephews that they picked up on a tour to France.  This is the motif of Harold on his destrier with his hunting falcon from the Bayeux tapestry.  It came as a kit with the stamped pattern on fabric and wool threads to use.  I was happy to find several tutorial videos on YouTube.  The best of these (IMHO) were the series by Sarah Homfray.  Her explanations are super clear and she's shot video looking down at what she's working on in which you can see the entire piece.  I made a small start on mine, choosing to start work on Harold's sleeve.  I plan to pick this up occasionally throughout the year and see if I can get it finished over the next 12 months. 

• Next up, I've been trying to put in at least 100 stitches a day (more if I can squeeze it in) on my Winter's Encounter.  This is the mini version from HAED. Artwork by Laura Prindle.  I'm currently at about 6% complete on this and I want to try for a page finish this month, which I'm pretty sure I can accomplish. I've reached the top right-hand corner of page 1, and the bottom left-hand corner as well.  I love how many colors go into a seemingly monochromatic mane and snowbank!

• Finally, I've just started working on my February Word Play by Brenda Gervais.  My goal is to finish this during the month of January.  I've only put a few threads into it so far this month, but it'll get some focused time next weekend with any luck and I'm hoping to make really good progress on it then. 

Stitching Update: 12/07/2017

Hat trick for this week:  My stitching update.

I have two finishes this month.  The first is for an ATC swap in the Cross Stitch Card and ATC group on Facebook.  I stitched this on a 25-count opal Lugana I hand-dyed myself using a limited edition hand-dyed floss from Colour and Cotton.

The pattern is from the 2016 Ornaments issue of Just Cross Stitch. This and a few other goodies will be shipping out to my swap partner this week.

I also finished the December block for the Lakeside Needlecraft Under the Sea SAL.  I stitched this on the custom-dyed fabric from Lakeside Needlecraft, which was a blue ombre' 25-count evenweave.  I used the called-for DMC threads as well.  Design is by Durene Jones. 

I swapped out the DMC Light Effects for a sparkly green blending filament I had, which worked MUCH better.  I also used small clear opalescent size 12 seed beads for the water bubbles (rather than just DMC stitches).  I have a frame on order for this which would hopefully be here next week!

For the rest of the month, I'm going to be working on 3 pieces.  First up, my Desert Mandala Chatelaine. Sadly, the designer of this piece, Martina Rosenberg, passed away unexpectedly yesterday - she was an amazing artist and she is definitely going to be missed in the community.  I had this on tap to work on this week anyway, but it's a nice little tribute to her design skills to think of her while I stitch on it this week. 

I have the center medallion done except for beads, and I've started working on the next ring, which are various cacti.  The colors are absolutely spot-on for the high desert!

Next week, I'll be focusing on the 12 Days of Christimas, with design by Jim Shore.  I only made a small start on it this year when I began it during Maynia, but it feels appropriate to work on it during the holiday season. It currently looks like: 

Finally, the Full Coverage Fanatics first quarterly SAL is kicking off on 12/21/2017. It's a winter-themed SAL that will run from them until the spring equinox on March 21, 2018.  I'll be working on my Winter's Encounter piece, with artwork by Linda Prindle and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs. 

I had also started this originally during Stitch Maynia, but I was unhappy with my fabric choice, so I restarted it in October on 25-count Easy Guide and like that much better.  I've only got about 500 stitches in so far, so I'll be working on the upper right-hand corner with all.that.pink for a while.

Stitching Wednesday: September 27, 2017

Trying to get back in the blogging groove after our vacation mid-month.  I'm switching up a few things and changing my rotation for the next few months until the end of the year.  (If you are interested in more than you probably want to know, feel free to check out my YouTube channel - I uploaded a new plans/works in progress video this week over there.)

Essentially I'm going to move to a smaller group of projects to rotate through for the rest of 2017 so I can finish up a holiday gift.  I'm going to work on 2 other projects - my Chatelaine Desert Mandala and the Under the Sea SAL interspersed with the focus project - my Star Weaver storykeep from HAED.

I did get the September block finished for the Under the Sea SAL from Lakeside Needlecraft. The September block gets us to the bottom left-hand corner of this piece with an uber cute sea turtle.  I think this block might be my favorite so far.

Here's the whole sheebang so far.  Three more blocks to go!  I'm stitching this on a custom-dye 25-count evenweave that was available from Lakeside Needlecrafts in an ombre-dye.  It's showing grayer in these pictures than in real life.  I'm using DMC floss as called for, and stitching this 1 over 1.

My focus project is my Star Weaver storykeep with artwork by Tom Cross, charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  I'm stitching this 1 over 1 on 28-count Monaco. Here's my progress up to last night.

This piece is basically 3 full pages. Pages 1 and 2 are complete, and I've started page 3.  I've got about 6000 sts left on this one, so I'm going to keep plugging away on it because I really want to have it finished and framed for Xmas this year!

Stitching Wednesday - August 30, 2017

Whew!  Life has intervened in the last couple of weeks and I missed last Wednesday entirely!  I've been quietly working on some stitching projects tho, so let me catch you up on things.

I put in 6 days' worth of work on my Chatelaine, the Desert Mandala pattern.  I'm still working on the first section, which is the center of the design.

I'm stitching this with the called-for threads, DMC and various hand-dyed silks, as well as some Petite Treasure Braid.  It's stitched on a 28-count Jobelan from Picture This Plus in the colorway Calypso.  I added in the trunk of the tree, another one of the sunset colors and extended the lightning bolt down.  I also finished the interior (magenta-colored) border, and the 1 over 1 coyote howling at the moon.  I'm really enjoying this project and it'll be coming back out for another 6 days over the first week of September.

Next up, I finished the second in a pair of holiday ornaments from Hands On Design.  This is Serenity and it's a companion piece to Solitude, which was featured as a finish a couple of posts ago.

I stitched this 2 over 2 on a hand-dyed Wichelt Jobelan fabric called Twilight Mist.  The floss is mostly Gentle Arts Threads, but I did replace one color with a sparkly Petite Treasure Braid (the snowflakes and the letters), which I like very much.  I also FFO'ed this with a scrap of cotton fabric I had in stash. 

I also worked for 6 days on Block 4 of Village of Hawk Run Hollow, which is the boarding house block.  I finished up the house (except for a bit of backstitching on the curtains) and the fence this rotation, and I started on the signpost there on the right.  I'm hoping when this comes back out in September that I'll be able to finish up this block!

This one is being stitched 1 over 1 on a 22-count Hardanger from Picture This Plus in Legacy using the DMC conversion provided for in the pattern.

Finally, I'm working on Star Weaver, which is the storykeep sized piece with artwork by Tom Cross and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.

I've got a couple more days to work on this and I am really trying to get a page finish in!  This would then complete page 2 of 3, and I'll have just 1 more page to finish this one up.  This is being stitched on 28-count Monaco, 1 over 1 with DMC threads and a wee bit of Petite Treasure Braid.  Absolutely loving how this one is coming out!

I decided that I'm going to do the Year of WIPs 2018 being hosted by Melanie at the Soulful Stitching Facebook group.  I've got several things that were Maynia starts in 2017 that I'd like to get finished up in the next calendar year and I think that'll help motivate me to do that!  More details on that as we get closer to the year's end.

Stitching Wednesday - August 9, 2017

Good progress on Shoot The Moon (mini) this rotation.  I am almost finished page 5, and this means I started the ribbons in the fairy's hair. I have perhaps 50 or so stitches left to finish up page 7, and I'm through pages 1-3 completely, so I can move my scroll frame up a bit before I work on this next time - which will be September.  Pattern is charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Lee Ann Seed.  Stitched 1/1 on 28-count evenweave I hand-dyed in a gradient colorway called Dusk.

I then worked on my Under the Sea SAL from Lakside Needlecrafts, with artwork by Durene Jones. The clue was actually pretty quick to stitch this time - and added a manta ray to the group. I had budgeted 6 days to work on this, but I finished it up in only 3.

This is being stitched on a 25-count evenweave from Lakeside Needlecrafts.  It's a printed ombre'd fabric in watery colors that was an exclusive for this pattern/SAL.  Four more blocks to go!

Since I have a couple of extra days in this rotation, I'm going to put in a few days' work on Star Weaver from HAED, and then Sunday I'll start back to work on my Chatelaine so updates on both of those next week!

Stitching Wednesday - August 2, 2017

I spent a solid 6 days working on the Desert Mandala from Chatelaine and was really happy with my progress on this piece.

This is about a quarter of the center medallion finished.  The center is worked with DMC and Petite Treasure Braid, and the outside flower motifs are worked in various hand-dyed silks.  There will be the addition of beads once I finish all of the cross-stitching itself, but I want to wait to add those so they don't get snagged or moved around too much.

For the first 6 days of August, I'll be working on my Shoot The Moon project, charted by Heaven and Earth Designs, mini size with no background.  Artwork by Lee Ann Seed.

I'm stitching this on a hand-dyed 28-count evenweave in a gradient colorway (light to darker purples), using DMC Black (310).  I've gotten the top 3 pages done - page 3 in the top right hand corner actually has no stitching in it, so that was fast, and I'm halfway through page 4 and have worked a bit on page 5.  Hoping to get to the point I can place the upper edge of the fairy figure during this rotation, but we'll see how I go along with it.

A few more days of work on this and then I'll be switching to my Under the Sea SAL for days 7-12 this month.

Stitching Wednesday - July 19, 2017

This week I've been working on my Under the Sea SAL from Lakeside Needlecraft, and I started and finished up the July clue.

I made some changes to the original design of the mermaid.  I wasn't thrilled with her face - her eyes looked a little odd to me - so I turned her in profile so she's chatting with the cute little green fish and altered her hair to make that work. This finished up my 6-day rotation on this piece, and I'll be waiting for the August clue to work on next month.

I also have been participating in the Dog Days of Summer SAL through Cross-Stitch Finish Line for the last week.  The SAL ran 07/14 through 07/19 (today), and I worked for 30-60 minutes on different projects for each day to correspond to the themes/prompts.

07/14 - S: Seashore.  Under the Sea SAL. (You can see that above).

07/15 - U: Umbrella.  A Stitching Shelf.  I added in a few hundred stitches of confetti on this piece and no, you can't see the umbrella in the area I worked on, but there is one in this design further down.

07/16 - M: Design name beginning with M.  I started Mabon by The Primitive Hare.

07/17 - M: Munchies - something to do with food.  Welcome Autumn (which has a pumpkin).  See below also for R.

07/18 - E: Eternity - a piece taking forever.  I changed up my project choice and worked on the Under the Sea SAL since that's a year-long project (which feels like an eternity).

07/19 - R: Red - a project with the color red in it.  I also decided to stick with the Welcome piece since it had red in it and it was still on my Q-snaps.  I worked on the lettering this morning since that is in a pretty wine red color.

For the next 6 days, I'll be working on block #4 of Village of Hawk Run Hollow.  I'm hoping to make some decent progress on this block this rotation. Here's my current status on this piece.