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Monday 31 December 2018

December Pie and Stitch From Stash

It's Old Year's Night and time for a reckonin' as they say!

My previous post showed my finishes for the year - 27 - the lowest total since I started this blog.  But I did spend quite a lot of time on 2 BAPs which will be my focus for 2019.  The Discworld Mappe and my Chatelaine Gardens of London.

First of all, here is the Pie for December:


Far too much time on the 12 Days of Christmas for such a small project but I was working several of those days and there are a load of colour changes.  This is the reason why it took 44 days in total to complete on top of the 4 days I spent on it last year.

The Rosewood Manor Festive Quaker Tree is this year's 12 Days of Stitchmas project.  Each day I start a new ornament from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Specials 2001 to 2010.  I put one length in the new start and then spend the rest of the day on my Festive Quaker Tree.

On Day Five I stitched Dragon Dreams' Peace on Earth from 2001 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:


On Day Six I stitched Just Nan's A Little Joy from 2002 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:


On Day Seven I stitched The Sweetheart Tree's Christmas Joy Bellpull from 2006 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:


I am confident that I can complete the Festive Quaker Tree within the 12 days.

Let's have a look at the Annual Pie Chart now:


A little difficult to see but the top four projects were:

The Discworld Mappe - 44 days
Just Nan 12 Days of Christmas - 44 days
Gardens of London - 36 days
Mrs Peggotty's Alice - 31 days

I stitched Alice every day last year but she only features on the pie if I don't stitch anything else that day.

If I'd done the pie by designers then Just Nan would have been top with 89 days and Donna Kooler second with 50 days spread over the Zodiac and Leonore's Wedding Ornaments.

How did the spending go last month?  Very well, thank you.  Another zero spend month!

December
nothing £0.00
Total £0.00

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines £66.32
Charts £111.25
Fabric £56.45
Threads £18.03
Other £26.98
Total £279.03

That figure is £50 down on last year and is pretty much saving on magazines.  I cancelled two subscriptions last year.  I spent more on charts and less on fabric and threads.  Hopefully next year will be even lower.  I have everything I need for my two BAPs except the beads for the Chatelaine and it's going to be a long while before I need them!


Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day






Sunday 30 December 2018

December WIPocalypse Annual Review

WIPocalypse

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

Each month we have to share the projects we want to complete before the End Of The World.

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "18 in '18"which are 18 charts I want to stitch in 2018 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12" etc etc)

  1. Dessins DHC - Bande des Dragons - Finish
  2. Lavender & Lace - Enchanted Alphabet  - WIP
  3. Chatelaine Designs - Gardens of London  - WIP
  4. Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs  - WIP
  5. Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map  - WIP
  6. Just Nan - Summer in the Square - Finish
  7. Joan Elliott - Reading Fairy - Finish
  8. Donna Kooler - Zodiac - Finish
  9. Just Nan - Autumn Mouse in a House - Finish
  10. Jardin Prive - Happy Hallowe'en Night - Finish
  11. Dam Good Crafts - Dracula Book Cover - Finish
  12. Just Nan - 12 Days of Christmas - Finish
  13. Satsuma Street - Libra - Finish
  14. Satsuma Street - Aquarius
  15. Mrs Peggotty - Alice and Flamingo  - WIP
  16. Bothy Threads - Alice in Wonderland
  17. Just Nan - Summer Typography - WIP
  18. Just Nan - Diamond Bouquet - Finish
This year I managed ten finishes from the list, worked on another six projects and only had two unstarted.  

Here's the ten finishes:



I started 2018 with 27 WIPs and completed 12 of them.  Over the course of the year I started 20 new projects and completed 15 of them.  So that leaves me with a final total of 27 finishes and 20 WIPs going into 2019

Here are the ten Just Nan smalls shown on Friday:


And the other seven finishes, including a Just Nan small I left off that top photo!


I'm still working on my 2019 list and will be showing that on the first WIPocalypse update due on the 6th January, 2019.


side-note - this is my 90th WIPocalypse post!  We seem to be doing a good job at holding off the end of the world.


Finally, a number of people have been asking about the Smalls SAL run by Stitching Lotus.  Heather has been in touch with me to say she has someone interested in running the SAL in 2019 as she currently does not have the time to do so.  No, the someone is NOT me, I have enough SALs already LOL.  An announcement will be made shortly as to what is happening.  So, keep stitching those Smalls!



Friday 28 December 2018

December Smalls SAL

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

My main Small project has been my 12 Days of Christmas by Just Nan which I completed earlier this month.  I started it for 12 Days of Stitchmas last December and then completed one block per month throughout the year.  Here it is all finished:


When I completed the final block I had a new start, a gifted piece from Heather of Stitching Lotus, a Lizzie*Kate design called Life is Better:

stitched over 1 on 32 count Lambswool linen

The adorable buttons were a gift from Ariadne, I just laid them on the fabric for the photo but will sew them on when I fully finish the piece.

When that one was finished I had four days free to stitch anything I wanted, unfortunately the frog came to visit!

Then it was 12 Days of Stitchmas again!  This year I decided to make a start on the 12 Ornaments I will be stitching for the Christmas Ornament Blog run by Kaye.  There are three themes in 2019 and I have decided to go for the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2001 - 2010.  I have chosen my 12 designs from the magazines and started four so far.  Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas.

On Day One I stitched Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree from 2009:


On Day Two I stitched Ink Circle's Poinsettia from 2008 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:


On Day Three I stitched The Sweetheart Tree's Noel Christmas Bellpull from 2007 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree:


I debated whether to stitch design 2 as well but thought that as the Quaker Tree is quite large, I'd rather focus on that each day.  I will thank myself once we get further on and I'm not trying to fit 10 designs into one day!

On Day Four I stitched Dragon Dreams' Peace on Earth from 2002 and Rosewood Manor's Festive Quaker Tree from 2009:



I am choosing my own colours on the Festive Quaker Tree and didn't get much done today as the paler colours blend into the fabric too much.  I frogged and will restitch with a medium blue and B5200.

Throughout the year I was stitching 30-a-Day on my Just Nan Smalls.  That ground to a halt in September when I switched to Leonore's Wedding present.

I did manage to complete 10 Just Nan Smalls and here they all are:


And here are Leonore and Felix's wedding presents:



Finally, there is housekeeping to be done on the blog, the "19 in '19" list to be finalised, the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL to set up for next year and the Happy Dance list and blog to be updated.  Plus rather a lot of emails to answer.  Good thing I have some time off work!








Monday 24 December 2018

2018 Online Advent Calendar

Here is our Online Advent Calendar, it will be updated every day. 
Scroll down to see the latest picture and a link to the poster's blog.

This year I have asked each participant what their favourite Christmas song is.
It could be a traditional carol, a hymn or a more modern song.

Pop over to each blog to sing-a-long with our stitch-a-long!

Saturday 1st December
♬ O Little Town of Bethlehem ♫

Sunday 2nd December
♬ Must Be Santa  ♫

and

♬ O Holy Night  ♫

Monday 3rd December
♬ The Little Drummer Boy ♫

Tuesday 4th December
♬ Jingle Bells ♫

Wednesday 5th December
♬ O Holy Night  ♫
(with added Hawaiian lyrics)


Thursday 6th December
♬ Move Me Closer (A Shepherd's Prayer) ♫

Friday 7th December
♬ Fairytale of New York ♫

Saturday 8th December
♬ Carol of the Bells ♫

Sunday 9th December
♬ The Little Drummer Boy (Peace on Earth) ♫

and
Tiffstitches a Blog
♬ The 12 Days of Christmas (Muppets and John Denver version) ♫

Monday 10th December
♬ Every Day is Christmas ♫

Tuesday 11th December
♬ Emanuel ♫

Wednesday 12th December
RJ
♬ I'll be Home for Christmas ♫

and

Mary
♬ The Christmas Song ♫

Together RJ and Mary are:

Thursday 13th December
♬ Mary, Did You Know? ♫

Friday 14th December
♬ I'll be Home for Christmas ♫

Saturday 15th December
♬ White Christmas ♫

and

♬ What Child is This? ♫


Sunday 16th December
♬ The Christmas Shoes ♫

and
♬ So this is Christmas ♫

Monday 17th December
♬ Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas ♫

Tuesday 18th December
♬ Last Christmas ♫

Wednesday 19th December
♬ Gaudete ♫

Thursday 20th December
♬ If Every Day Was Like Christmas ♫

Friday 21st December
♬ Hark the Herald Angels Sing ♫

Saturday 22nd December
♬ Sans Day Carol ♫

and

♬ God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen ♫

Sunday 23rd December
♬ Silver Bells ♫

and

♬ It Feels Like Christmas ♫

Friday 24th December
♬ December Song ♫


Hope you enjoyed the Advent Calendar this year! Remember to leave comments on each day to let people know you have visited too.

I have to say, the idea of asking for Christmas Songs was a genius idea, though I say so myself!  It's been so much fun listening to all the songs everyone has shared while I read and comment.  I shouldn't pick a favourite really but I did love the video of the Silent Monks performing the Hallelujah Chorus that Deborah shared on her post.  Here it is again: