Stitch From Stash With A Side Serving Of Pie

It's the end of the first month of the year and time to take stock of the progress so far.  The world has continued to hurtle closer to Doomsday and Death has continued reaping in much the same way as he did last year (RIP John Hurt) but it's been a great stitching month and that's what we are here for.

I have successfully completed the first month of the Ten-a-Day Challenge, I am a Man In Control of my Life (you need to have seen the advert to understand that).  I am stitching Just Nan's Spring in the Square.  Here's a little collage to show the first 31 days:

And a better view of the current progress:

I am also taking part in Stitch From Stash on FB.  I have set a budget of £20 per month (which is equivalent to US$25 due to our rubbish exchange rate!).  I have some Christmas money to spend but I am saving that to buy the supplies for my cousin's new baby stitching.   I was on track for a zero spend but then Stitchrovia released the first part of her new SAL and it's for Charidee Mate so how could I refuse?  So I spent £1.99 on that.

Stitchrovia	£1.99	Chart
Plush Addict	£3.35	Finishing Fabric
Plush Addict	£0.58	Ribbon
Total	£5.92

I did buy some finishing items as well, but they are exempt from SFS.  I will be saving nearly £3 a month in magazine subs because we have just been informed that the current issue of Cross Stitch Collection will be the last one.

I have been stitching a couple of pieces I can't show yet.  The first is for my Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop (not too late to sign up, just leave a comment) and the second is for The Alphabet Club on the first Saturday in February.  But I do have an FFO to show.  I plan to Fully Finish an Object each Sunday that I don't have to work.

Last week I finished Little Snowy Gray Cottage by Nora Corbett:

This is an 8 inch version of my favourite raw wood box frames from Wilkinsons.  I painted this one with a sample pot of emulsion.  You can see how deep the rebate is, there is plenty of room for those chunky beads not to be squashed.  You can read all the stitching details on this post here.

And now for some pie:

Not surprisingly, Joan Elliott's 12 Days of Christmas dominates the pie this month with over half the month spent of one design.  Another 8 days on various SALs and 6 days of free stitching whatever called to me.

Finally, I forgot to mention on my WIPocalypse post that I have compiled a list of previous WIPocalypses (WIPocalypii?) which you can find on my Happy Dance Blog.  I have noted down my success (or not) in completing the various projects each year.  Last year was the best year yet which makes me happy.