January WIPocalypse Troublesome WIPs and some Pie

  
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.  Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "21 in '21" for this year.  This month I stitched on 4 of them.

2. Samplermakers Spring Challenge

stitched on 28 count Slightly Lilac evenweave from Sparklies

10. Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Linen

13. Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas

stitched on 32 count blue-grey linen

14. Hands On Design Scary Apothecary

stitched on 28 count Radioactive linen from Chromatic Alchemy

The full list can be seen here - WIPocalypse and 21 in 21

Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.

January - Tell us about a WIP on which you’ve really struggled to make progress. Explain its history. What appears to be the reason you’re struggling?

Perfect question for this month as the Spring Challenge Sampler is a great example.  I started this back in 2012 and was really enjoying it.  I stitched the first tree and then had to flip it to stitch the second tree.  Which is where I stalled, the chart when scanned and flipped just wasn't clear enough, the symbols for the brown tree and the green leaves were too similar.

When I started looking at my older WIPs for the Longest Day Marathons I decided to pick just one or two to work on each year and reduce the number of older projects.  This year it's the turn of the Spring Sampler and I have now broken through the tree barrier and just have the lovely alphabet and a few motifs to complete.  Looking at the other older WIPs it seems style of stitching is my big issue:

Around the World in 80 Stitches - fiddly colour changes with the speciality stitches

Coffee Fairy and Art Nouveau Head - full coverage

English Transitional Sampler - Holbein and outlining not inspiring me

Joan Elliott Faces - over one skin and dislike of one block

NOEL Letters - Hardanger

Little Snapdragon - computer generated chart

Now for some pie.  Regular followers will know I produce a delicious home-made pie to illustrate my focus projects for the month.  I don't record minutes or stitches so this gives an approximate idea of how much time each WIP got.  It doesn't show the daily sampler or the bath-time stitching.

You can see it's been a Rotation Year so far, rather than a Focus Year like 2020.  I was enjoying the Tiny Modernist Calendar so much that I continued and stitched February already.  I'll show you in the next Smalls post.

I also signed up for Stitch from Stash again.  This is my 7th year, I skipped 2016 as it was my Big Birthday and I didn't want to restrict myself.

Those don't actually count for the SFS challenge on FB but I like to monitor my total spending for my own purposes.

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

January Smalls

 

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls will be the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas 2019 Ornament series which I started on Boxing Day 2020 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

Here are the 12 starts:

And the First Day completed:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Linen

I completed this design from the November 2008 Gift of Stitching issue which was the Christmas Ornament Special.  Designed by MTV Designs and called Treasure Christmas Pincushion.

stitched on 32 count mid-green linen

I have actually fully-finished this but will save it for the Fully Finished Gallery on 10th February.

As I admin the Just Cross Stitch Ornament FB group, I always feel I should stitch more of the ornaments!  I did manage this months because it's a nice little one.  This is Poinsettia by Punochka:

stitched on 32 count mid-green linen

I used the charted DMC except for the brighter red which I substituted 321 as the charted was too similar to the main red.

My last small was the cover gift with issue 365 of Cross Stitcher, a lovely calendar by Tiny Modernist.  I plan to stitch them as a sampler as the piece of fabric I had was a little tight on margins for individual pieces!

stitched on 32 count Summer Sky Belfast linen from Silkweavers

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

Let's Go WIPGO!

Q: What is WIPGO?

A: It's like Bingo for your WIPs.

The idea is to make a board with 25 squares, add a goal to each square, each month the Admin call 2 numbers and you try reach those two goals.

When you complete a row or column, you can reward yourself with something nice.  A new start?  A new chart?  An uninterrupted afternoon of stitching?  Your choice.

This is my board:

The numbers called for January were 6, 13 and 18.  Now, some people have 13 as a free space so the Admin calls an extra number for the month that it appears.  Hence 3 numbers for January.  Which is good for me because 18 isn't going to be ticked off until May!  You don't have to meet the goal in the month called, but you can't tick the box off until it is met.

I worked on number 13 first.  This is my Hands On Design Scary Apothecary series.  I stitched 3 last year and have 3 on my list for this year.  Here's where I got to on Cackle Lozenges:

stitched on 28 count Radioactive linen from Chromatic Alchemy

I'm using the DMC conversion, this one is stitched exactly as per the chart so far.  In previous designs I had to tweak some colours because I am using such a bright green fabric.  It does change the way the colours appear but these all work well so far.

I stitched for five days and will continue with it next month to finish it.  Unless the CCN Village gets called, then I will work on that instead.

The second project is number 6.  This is a very old WIP which I will be glad to see finished.  I stalled on the reflected tree for a number of reasons but have finished it!

stitched on 28 count Slightly Lilac evenweave from Sparklies

This was a challenge on the old Samplermakers Forum where they gave us some motifs and said "Make a Sampler".  All I need now is the alphabet and to complete the little animals.

Again, the goal of finishing it wasn't met in this month but it will come up in my rotation again this year.

My 2021 rotation is currently:

Week 1 - Hands on Design OR CCN Village
Week 2 - WIPGO project 1
Week 3 - WIPGO project 2
Week 4 - Tiny Decisions App chooses

I planned my weeks to be 6 days long based on working one full day a week, but as I'm furloughed I've been using that "extra" day to stitch ornaments.

I loaded my Tiny Decisions App with my four BAPs for this month and it chose the Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas.  So I have made a start:

stitched on 32 count blue-grey linen

I bought the kit for this as it is the only way to get the chart.  It came with 14 count white aida.  Nu-huh, not stitching on that!  I did have this nice piece of linen in a neutral colour in my stash.  It is soft to hold, plenty big enough and the coverage is excellent.  This is going to be a full-coverage piece so I wanted good coverage using only 2 strands.  I have been told the thread is Madeira which is much the same thickness as DMC.

I did consider buying fabrics in the six different background colours and stitching them without the background as ornaments.  But it became clear it was going to be difficult to find all the colours in the same fabric count and type so I dropped that idea.

This will be a long term project.  I will stitch on this for six days this month and see how far I get.  My goal is to complete six of the blocks this year and six next.  We shall see!

I've been working away on my Winter Blues too and completed last week's goals of Bands 4 and 5:

stitched on 28 count White Jobelan

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

January IHSW

 

IHSW or International Hermit and Stitch Weekend always starts on the third Friday of the month.  It's a chance to lock yourself away and focus on your stitching for the weekend.  You can take part on your blog or via the Facebook page - IHSW on Facebook.

I worked on three projects over the weekend which wasn't terribly productive unfortunately.

The main focus was my second WIPGO project.  This is an oldie started back in 2012 for the Samplemakers Forum challenge.  They gave us a selection of motifs and we made a small sampler from them.  I stalled on the trees and it's taken me 8 years to complete them!

stitched on 28 count Slightly Lilac evenweave from Sparklies

I have almost finished the green leaves on the left hand tree then I can get started on the smaller motifs.  There will be a rabbit, a bird, a butterfly and a peacock as well as an alphabet, my initials and the year.  Charted as 2012 it will be easier to flip those last 2 numbers!  I also need to fill in the flowers in the urn and it's finally done.

My bathtime project is the Stitchonomy Winter SAL.  I got the kit for this one so I'm stitching it exactly as charted using the kit DMC and, shockingly, the kit aida!  It was such a gorgeous blue/turquoise colour I thought "why not?" plus I didn't have any evenweave this bright.

As with all of Alyssa's SALs, this was free for a certain period of time and now you can get it by joining her Pattern Club for a small fee.  At the end of the SAL it will be available to buy in her Etsy shop.

stitched on 14 count Riviera aida

It's a lovely simple piece, perfect for bathtime stitching as we get one band every three days and they take exactly three bathtimes to stitch!  How did she do that?

The third piece is a very different band sampler, this is Just Nan's Winter Blues.  I am SALing this with several people in the Just Nan Junkies FB group.  I set a schedule of just 1 or 2 bands per week and I'm now on Band 5 for Week 3.

stitched on 28 count White Jobelan

In various emails I've been saying to people "I want to use more coloured fabrics this year" but White was the perfect choice for this sampler.  It had to be 28 count because of the over-one sections, I wanted the words to be legible!

Finally, the next IHSW will be 19th - 21st February so make sure you note the date in your diary or come and join us in the Facebook Group - IHSW on Facebook. If you don't do Facebook then you can check in here by leaving a comment on my post.

Gifted Gorgeousness January Link-up Post

 

Our new logo for the year is this Just Nan design called Christmas Friends.  It was a gift from Mouse and I have cunningly altered the saying to read "A friend is a gift throughout the year...but especially at GG Time!

Please remember to change your badge and the link to the new page as the old link no longer works.  Don't forget to link up on the main sign-up page with your blog address.

Welcome to the January Gifted Gorgeousness link-up. The link-up date continues to be the 15th and I will keep the link-up open until the end of each month so you have plenty of time if you are late posting.

The format remains exactly the same, there is a list of rules on the main sign-up page if you want to check what is required but basically anything connected to the word "gift" is allowed, whether it was a gift TO you or is a gift FROM you.

Deb sent me the charts for the Stoney Creek 2019 Ornaments which were my Stitchmas project this year.  I started all 12, one per day:

And completed the First Day:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green Linen

Snowfire Christmas by Just Nan was my big finish this month.  I used a thread gifted by Stitching Noni in this one.

stitched on 32 count Burgundy Linen

This piece qualifies because it comes from The GIFT of Stitching magazine, which was a gift from my SIL.  This one is from the November 2008 issue which was the Christmas Ornament Special.  Deisgned by MTV Designs and called Treasure Christmas Pincushion.

stitched on 32 count Mid Green Linen

I used the charted DMC for the red and light green.  For the trees I decided to use a blend as the varirgated thread I had was too close in colour to the light green.  I used DMC 934/936 for some trees and 935/937 for others.  It's a very subtle difference but you can still see it.  This will be made into an ornament by the 10th February! 

Now it is your turn to show us your Gifted Gorgeousness for the month.  Please use your name or your blog name in the field and NOT the words "January Update" so I can easily see who has linked up this month.  And link to the actual post, not just your blog.  It is easier if you copy and paste the link, rather than typing freehand.

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Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

January TUSAL Happy Dance

   

It's TUSAL time!

Here is my TUSAL tin with my current project:

This is a design from the 2008 Christmas Ornament issue of Gift of Stitching.  Designed by Maria Teresa Vitali of MTV Designs and entitled Treasure Christmas Pincushion.  I am stitching it on the 32 count mid green linen I use for a lot of my Christmas designs and using the DMC conversion so far.  I plan to use a variegated DMC for the Christmas Trees.  Then finish it as an ornament.

The Happy Dance is for a project I was hoping to complete in 2020 but the last two weeks of December put paid to that.  Instead I decided not to rush it and take my time in January.

I present Snowfire Christmas by Just Nan:

stitched on 32 count Burgundy linen

(DMC for colour comparison because it's hard to capture)

As you would expect from a Just Nan, there are a lot of speciality stitches and just as many beads!

My goal was 2-3 bands per week and that was ambitous!

There's DMC and cotton Perle in this

The last two bands are the two that defeated my goal of a 2020 finish

More beads and crystals too

I love this design so much.  I didn't realise how blingy it was until I started it.  I was stitching along with Leonore and she sent me the beautiful crystals because we only had the charts and not the embellishment packs.  A couple of people from the JN FB group wanted to join in and now we have several doing our current SAL of Winter Blues.  Unfortunately, Leonore didn't have that chart so I need to make sure our next choice comes from her and her stash!

Definitely getting this professionally framed when she reopens.

Here's where I am on the new SAL, Winter Blues:

stitched on 28 count White Jobelan

I've gone for 28 count as there is a bit of over-one stitching for the words and birds.  We have a somewhat easier schedule for this one!  Only 1-2 bands per week.  Having bitten off more than I could chew in November/December I decided to take it easy on this one.  We aim to finish by the end of March.

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.

Finally Fully Finishing Fun for January

   

Hosted by Rachel the Ten Hour Stitcher

This SAL is designed to motivate us all to do something with that box of Finished pieces instead of just storing them under the bed.  We will all be linking up on Rachel's blog on or after the 10th of each month (10 Hour Stitcher - 10th of the month).

This is what I typed on my January post in 2020:

Let's start the year off as we don't mean to go on - doing nothing all month and realising on the 9th that you have one day to FFO something, anything to show on the 10th.

Guess what?  Same thing this year!

Luckily I have plenty of things just calling out to be scrapbooked.  Here are two recent finishes:

Two Rosewood Manor designs from the Gift of Stitching magazine.

Red Berries from December 2006

Sugar Plum Tree from December 2007

And three from earlier in 2020:

Just Nan's Holly Berry Snowflakes:

I thought you might enjoy a flip-through of my Christmas Scrapbook:

Finally, I will be running the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop on Valentine's Day.

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

It's really very simple, all you have to do is email me a picture of something you have stitched which is suitable for a stitching friend on Valentine's Day.  It could be a heart, or a pair of cute creatures, or the word "love" or anything which warms your heart.  Really anything you think a fellow stitcher would like to receive in her email Inbox.  It can be something you've stitched in the past or something you've made especially for this year.  It could also be quilted or sewn this year as I know some of my followers do other crafts too.

Send me the email by 10th February.

When I have all the emails I will randomise them and send one to each participant on 13th February. Then on 14th February you must post the picture you receive onto your blog under the heading

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

There will be a list on my blog of everyone joining in, so check out all the blogs and find out who got your picture and identify yourself in their comments as their

Secret Stitching Sweetheart

Does that make sense to everyone? I hope so!

If you'd like to be involved then leave a comment on this post or send me an email if you are "no-reply". I'll be putting little reminders up from time to time and will email on 9th February to make sure you send the pic in time.