March Stitch from Stash and Pie

 It's time for Pie!

I spent the first half of the month working on Fairy Idyll from Mirabilia.  She went from here:

to here:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

After that I moved on to the Art Nouveau Head, which is my oldest WIP.

I went from here:

to here:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

Here's my evening pie:

You can see the two main projects in my Smalls post from Friday.

Finally, Stitch from Stash, just my two magazine subscriptions, which are exempt from the budget.

March WIPocalypse Favourite Designers

        

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 "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 2 of them.

First up was Fairy Idyll from Mirabilia, her first outing for this year.  I worked on this portion:

stitched on 32 count Vinyard Murano from Crafty Kitten

The purple bedfrills are a conversion to co-ordinate better with my fabric.  The charted colours are shades of pink.  You can see the large rabbit appearing too.

After her I moved back to my oldest WIP, the Art Nouveau Head by Custom Crafts which has been called four times so far this year:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

I'm working away on the golden colours in her headpiece at the moment.

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

March  – Which are your favourite three designers?

According to my Happy Dance blog, Just Nan is by far and away the top designer for finishes, over 110 to date.  Joan Elliott has 31 entries and Mirabilia/Nora Corbett 27 combined.

I think I would agree they are my Top Three.  When I first started this blog I listed those three plus Lavender & Lace and Teresa Wenztler as my favourites as well as my ambition to stitch a Chatelaine one day!

I would possibly add Circle Cross for her blackwork, maybe to replace Joan Elliott as I haven't stitched so much of her newer designs.

Here are my favourite finishes from my Top Three:

Mirabilia - Sleeping Beauty

Joan Elliott - 12 Days of Christmas

Just Nan - Scream House

March TUSAL

       

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

I've made quite good progress on her this month, you'll see how much is hidden under the TUSAL jar when I make my final post of the month.

Finally, next month's New Moon is Sunday 27th April.

February TUSAL

      

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

And here's how the Art Nouveau Head looks at the end of the month:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

Finally, her number has been called again for March's WIPGO so hopefully I can finish the bottom half of the design and make a start on her ornate headpiece.

February WIPocalypse SALs

       

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 "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 2 of them and had 1 finish.

2. Craft Collection Art Nouveau Head

6. Cottage Garden Samplings Year in the Woods - 

The Swans is a finish

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

February – What stitch-a-longs (SALs) are you participating in this year?

Obviously, WIPocalypse!  My other SALs are

Fully Finished Gallery - show anything you have FFO'd on the 10th
Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th
Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month
The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

I don't tend to SAL actual designs as I have my rotation planned and it rarely fits in with other people's plans.  But if you are stitching anything that I am stitching do let me know and we can call it a SAL!

I also tend to avoid Mystery SALs having been bitten once or twice.  I wait until most of the piece has been released and then see if I still have FOMO and want to start it!

January Stitch from Stash and 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.

You can see what I spent most of the month on!

Art Nouveau Head went from here:

to here:

stitched on 14 count White Aida

Obviously a lot of block fill-in which is quicker.  The bottom half is similar but that circle shape and the headpiece is going to be much more time consuming.  I am confident I can get this completed this year though.

I also keep an evening Pie, which looks very varied this month:

This year evenings are going to be dedicated to my Annie Beez Stockings and whatever else takes my fancy so expect some varied pies this year.

Finally, Stitch from Stash.  This is my eleventh year!  I skipped 2016 as it was a Big Birthday Year and I wanted to be able to splurge a little.  But apart from that it's been a huge success and really helped me see where to cut down on my spending.

As I mentioned before, I needed the red beads for the Annie Beez stocking and thought it was a good idea to get the bead pack for the Zodiac Girl at the same time.

January TUSAL

     

It's TUSAL time!  

Here is my TUSAL jar with my current project:

The contents of those tins will now be put into my empty jar to start the new TUSAL year.

Here's the featured project, my Art Nouveau Head from Craft Collection:

stitched on 14 count Aida

I hope to complete the dark maroon in the outside circle this month.  Then she will have a little rest while I stitch on something different for WIPGO.

Finally, I thought I'd treat myself to a beading session to finish the Annie Beez stocking this month.  I have quite a collection of Mill Hill beads, but did I have the right ones for this design?  Of course not!

It's quite a specific red bead too so I just had to order a pack.  It's not worth the postage to order one pack of beads so I bought the bead pack for another of Nora Corbett's Zodiac Girls too!  It seems to be the only way to get the Magnificas.  At least I'll be prepared when I want to stitch that one.

January WIPocalypse Oldest Project

      

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 "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.  This month I stitched on 1 of them.

2. Craft Collection Art Nouveau Head

stitched on 14 count white Aida

I did finish two of my WIPocalypse choices from 2024.  Both were started in December and finished at the start of January so I'll show them here:

Shannon Christine 12 Days of Christmas

Life in Stitch Aslan

Finally, Measi always gives us a topic to discuss:

January – Tell us about the oldest WIP you have in your stash.

Rather handily, my oldest WIP was my focus for this month.  Back in 2011-12 I was very keen on starting things.  I had discovered forums and blogs in 2010 and started my own blog in 2011.  This particular project was one I'd bought before my older son was born and started as part of my "11 in '11".

I stitched for about 14 hours and got this far:

By the end of the month I had got this far:

And that was pretty much it for 2011.  Apart from my annual Longest Day Marathons it had not been touched since, until last year when I worked on it a few time for the A-Z Challenge in my IHSW.  At the start of this year it looked like this:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

You can see how much progress I've made this month looking at the photo at the top of the blog post.

After this one I have three WIPs started in 2012, two of which are massive.  After that it's my Chatelaine from 2017.  So not too bad for older projects.

In total I have

Prior to 2020 - 6 WIPs

2020 - 2024   - 5 WIPs

2025              - 4 WIPs

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.

Last year I did my A-Z Challenge for IHSW with mixed success.  I actually forgot it a couple of times!  But I did manage to work on all my WIPs across the year so I count that as a result.

This year I am going to attempt International Hermit and Blackwork.  I do love blackwork and have a couple of projects I want to try fit in to my rotation without being on the WIPGO Board.

The first project up was the Temperature Tree from The Steady Thread.  I filled in the corner and then worked on the final branch for the December temperatures:

And then it was done!

stitched on 28 count Meadow Mist linen from Silkweavers

I moved on to my second WIP from The Steady Thread, the Halloween Bookshelf:

stitched on 30 count tea-dyed linen

I focused on the clock this session and then stitched some more of the crystal ball inside.  Here's how it looks now:

I realised that my photo in Friday's post was not the current state of the piece.  I had stitched more since that was taken.

Today I am going back to my focus piece for the month, the Art Nouveau Head:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

Finally the next IHSW will be 21st - 23rd 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.

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, which I copied into my January 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 posts:

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!  Why break the run now?

This is a cube finish from a few years back that comes out every Christmas.  The previous year (2023) I noticed that it was looking a little squished so I unpicked the back and intended to restuff it for 2024.

Good intentions and all that!  It's been sat in my storage unit waiting to be fixed ever since.

The designer is Acorn House Designs and this piece was in the Just Cross Stitch Christmas Special back in 2013

The ribbon came from a box of chocolates and was the perfect size for this cube.

So it's all stuffed and repaired ready for Christmas 2025.

Finally, here's my progress on my focus piece for the month - Art Nouveau Head (or ANH for those who struggle with getting the right vowels in the right place in "Nouveau"!):

stitched on 14 count white aida

January WIPocalypse Introduction

     

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. Measi always gives us a topic to discuss too.


January - Introduce yourself, your projects, and any goals you have for the year


Since 2011 I have chosen a number of projects to focus on that year, starting with my "11 in '11" and increasing to "24 in '24" for last year.  For 2025 I have decided not to attempt this.  I want to focus on 2 larger pieces and then spend the rest of my stitching time on the series I have started.

This is the list for 2025:

1. Mirabilia - Fairy Idyll - 6 WIPGO numbers
2. Craft Collection - Art Nouveau Head - 6 WIPGO numbers
3. Cottage Garden Samplings - 12 Days of Christmas - 2 WIPGO numbers
4. Nora Corbett - Evanora - 2 WIPGO numbers
5. Nora Corbett - Zodiac Girl Scorpio - 2 WIPGO numbers
6. Cottage Garden Samplings - Year in the Woods - 2 WIPGO numbers
7. Cricket Collection - Summer - 2 WIPGO numbers
8. Satsuma Street - Aquarius - 2 WIPGO numbers

As you can tell, I am also taking part in WIPGO again.  This is a FB Bingo group.  You choose 25 goals for the year and each month the Admin pick two numbers to focus on.  When you have met your goal, you tick off that block.  You can give yourself rewards for completing a row or a column.

Here's my WIPGO board:

For January the numbers 11 and 20 have been called.  They are both for my oldest WIP, the Art Nouveau Head.  I started this one in 2011 but have owned it for much longer.  I bought the kit when I was still working full-time back in the 1990s.  It is stitched on Aida but at least it's a nice soft one so not too much of a chore. 

Here's where I started:

And here's where I am now:

stitched on 14 count white Aida

My evening projects throughout the year will be the Annie Beez 12 Days of Christmas Stockings.  They are a quick stitch so that will leave me time for other Smalls too.

Here's Day 1:

stitched on 28 count Black evenweave

I got close to a finish on Aslan from Life in Stitch in December and will be adding a length or two of white each day until I finish it.  I'm currently filling in the tree:

stitched on 28 count Black evenweave

I am also going to be stitching a Temperature SAL, a much simpler design than the last two years.  This will be a basic bar chart with one stitch per hour, charting the minimum temperature for the night and the maximums for the day.  But here's the clever part - the days start and finish when the sun rises and sets so you can see the progression across the year.

stitched on 14 count Aida banding

I charted the last four months of 2024 on a spreadsheet and here's how that looks:

The WIPocalypse posts are the last Sunday of each month

My other SALs are

Fully Finished Gallery - post anything fully finished on the 10th of each month
Gifted Gorgeousness - post anything gifted on the 15th
Smalls SAL - last Friday of each month
The TUSAL - post on the New Moon each month

Finally, I will not be continuing with the Blog Hops this year. I know that is disappointing news for some of you but they are just one thing too much.  I intend to visit your blogs a little bit more often and have made a start already, commenting on a few this morning!