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Wednesday 4 February 2015

WIPocalypse February 2015 Stuck in a Rut?

WIPocalypse
WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

Obviously taking part in the DUCJC meant I stitched on every single one of the 15!  You will have seen them all already throughout January but here are small pictures of them once again:

Joan Elliott – Diary February WIP

Just Nan – Winter Typography WIP

Frosted Pumpkins – Hallowe’en Town WIP

Joan Elliott – Faces Mystery SAL WIP

Just Nan – Haunted Pumpkins Tree WIP

Jannlynn – Gathering Honey WIP

JBW – Rocking Horse

Teresa Wenztler – You were Hatched

Kingfisher for school

Dragon of the Winter Moon from Riona

Joan Elliott – Believe for school

Nutmeg Cottage from Susan


Since the DUCJC ended I have actually worked on three of the pieces.  Trick and Treat has continued to be my bathtime focus piece, one length of thread per evening.  On the Beach is my OAAT piece so I can finish it for my cousin's baby.  And the Hallowe'en Blocks are one a month, mostly on a Sunday.

Praire Moon – Thine is the Trick and the Treat WIP
Stitched on hand-dyed 40 count linen

Primitive Hare – Hallowe’en Cubes
 
Stitched on 32 count Vintage Grain linen

Madame Chantilly – On the Beach WIP
Stitched on 32 count Kynance evenweave by Sparklies

I have changed the colours quite a lot for this piece.  The charted ones just did not look the same as the cover picture.  Weirdly, the two rocks are stitched with the same colour but from two different skeins.  Big difference in old and new DMC there!


Measi also sets discussion topics for each month:

February
How do you overcome that feeling that you’re in a rut with a particular project?

On the Beach is actually a good piece to illustrate this.  The lighthouse is blocks of plain colour.  Not very exciting, just /// and \\\ like a typewriter.  So to keep me motivated I have been stitching one block of it and then a little motif along the bottom.

I find rotation is the key to not getting in a rut in the first place.  If you have like I do, a large focus project, a small or two and a monthly target there will always be something from your Goal List you can stitch on and not feel you are "cheating"!  I personally don't like stitching long repetitive borders so find the one thread of border followed by one thread of something more interesting works for me!


Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Finally, I will be hosting the annual Valentine's Day Blog Hop this year.  See this post for more details.  Just send me a photo of your lovely stitching to be sent to another blogger on Valentine's Day,  I've added the Heart to my sidebar, please feel free to copy it onto your blog to link back here.



34 comments:

Cathy said...

Love your projects. Joan Elliott is one of my favorite designers. I have also stitched the Gathering Honey.

Suz said...

I'm utterly in awe of all of your stitching.
And I still adore Thine...
Great job!

Katie said...

Love all your pieces. I agree with you about how to get out of a rut.

sew.darn.quilt said...

Lovely progress, I do love your Halloween pieces. The boot is so witchy cute ")
I agree with you about the rotation, it definitely breaks up the monotony, when that feeling hits.

Rhona said...

What a wonderful selection of designs!

Katy said...

Great progress!

Barbi said...

I didn't realize the fabric for the "on the beach" piece was actually dyed like that. I LOVE IT!

Leonore Winterer said...

You have so many great projects, and now that you can OAAT, I'm sure we'll see lots of lovely progress on them!

Rahenna said...

I still can't believe how much stitching you did in January... amazing. :D

Unknown said...

You are getting a lot done. Congrats!

Linda said...

I love all the projects your working on Jo. You have made a lot of progress this month. I do the same thing when working on a project. If it has big areas of one color - I will do 1 strand of that and 1 strand of something else.

Linda

Gillie said...

I am laughing at the picture that comes to mind with your bath time piece.......even in the bath our fearless stitcher stitches.....! I know it's really the supervision piece, though!

Did I mention I am coming to stay for oh, let's see......at least a month to inhale some of the rotation and general just do it vibes from you.....😀

Margaret said...

I do admire you being able to keep so many WIPs on the go. Two or at most three are all I can manage. Must be the age difference:-)

Marcy said...

What a great group of projects you've got going. It'll be fun watching you rotate them and sewing which get finished first. Good luck with them all.

sharine said...

Great projects and varity is the spice of life right? :)

rosey175 said...

All of your WIPs are just lovely for 15! Just wait until 2054. :D Being a bit odd, I like my bricks of solid color. Lets my mind safely wander (since it's going to wander anyway no matter what I do).

Minnie said...

You have a great group of projects and I see that we share the same taste in several of the designers. Good job.

Christine said...

I am completely in agreement about borders. Why do they even put them on there? Not only are they mind numbingly tedious to stitch, but they make it SO much harder to get the finished piece to look squared up when you frame it. Honestly, a lot of the time I just miss them off

Mrs Milkybar Kid said...

Great pieces Jo, I look forward to following your progress on them all this year. I particularly love your beach piece and that you are stitching it on Sparklies Kynance as that beach is in my neck of the woods :). Totally agree on how you deal with ruts - variety is the spice of life, which includes stitching on different parts of the chart to keep your mojo going!

Preeti said...

All your WIPs are lovely :) I don't remember if I have ever got stuck in a rut. Most of the cases it might have been so extreme that I scrapped the project itself.

Elfie said...

Lovely projects.

Sarah in Stitches said...

Love what you're working on! I agree, I usually stitch a bit of the large boring blocks of color and then a bit of another motif so I don't get bored. Can't wait to watch your progress! :D

Anna van Schurman said...

You have quite a few that are close to a finish. Keep on truckin'!

Jan said...

Terrific projects Jo!!!

Erin (moviemuse) said...

I love the variety! All different types and styles of pieces. I bet that really does keep you from being in a rut.

Dani - tkdchick said...

Those are 15 great projects and they are all so different, all in pattern, size and complexity! You're going to have a great stitching year!

Stitching in the country said...

Great projects. I can't wait to see your list for 2050

Karoline said...

Great progress on your projects, they are looking lovely

Gwen said...

Great projects. It would be very scary for me to do 15 in 15 so 30 in 30 is out of the question. Will be following along. Good Luck!

Rai Rai's Stitches said...

Just discovered your blog. Beautiful work and some really interesting projects!

Brigitte said...

Beautiful projects, particularly when you see them all together in a row.

The Crafty Princess said...

Aww they're all so gorgeous! I may have to take a leaf out of your book and try going with some smaller projects. It can get disheartening with the never-ending baps. Looking good stunner!
xo Alicia

Julie said...

The fabric for On the Beach is amazing, this pic really show the difference in the colours, fabulous!!

Stitching Noni said...

Gorgeous stitching Jo :o)
Hugs xx