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 "21 in '21" for this year. For 2021 the list includes some older WIPs, some BAP new starts and some partworks as well as seasonal stitching.

Here are the WIPs:

This is the full list of 21:

1. Ernie Bishop NOEL Letters
2. Samplermakers Spring Sampler
3. Joan Elliott Faces SAL (2 blocks)
4. Chatelaine Gardens of London
5. Nora Corbett Gathering Eggs
6. Amanda Butler Alice in Wonderland
7. Lin Pulsion Bubbles of Happiness
8. Just Nan Scream House
9. Tiny Haunted Village by Various Designers
10. Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas
11. Carriage House Samplings Halloween at Hawk Run Hollow
12. Mirabilia Fairy Idyll
13. Bothy Threads 12 Days of Christmas
14. Hands on Designs Scary Apothecary 4
15. Hands on Designs Scary Apothecary 5
16. Hands on Designs Scary Apothecary 6
17. Just Nan Summer Sampler TBA
18. Just Nan Witchy Mice
19. CCN Halloween Village 2
20. CCN Halloween Village 3
21. CCN Halloween Village 4

And this is the New Starts collage:

So far this year I have stitched on the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas designs:

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

I am also taking part in WIPGO for the first time.  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 6, 13 and 18 have been called.  13 can be a free square so they call a third number in the month it appears.

The planned rotation this year will be:

Just Nan Daily Sampler - stitch a little bit each day, ideally first thing in the morning.
Just Nan smalls - aim to complete one per month. Will also be travel and work projects.
Evening stitching - smalls

Week 1 - complete the Stoney Creek 12 Days of Christmas for the month, then either a CCN shop or the HoD Scary Apothecary design

Week 2 - stitch the first WIPGO number

Week 3 - stitch the second WIPGO number

Week 4 - use Tiny Decisions to decide which project to stitch

The WIPocalypse posts are the last Sunday of each month

My other SALs are

The People's Choice - posts on the first Saturday of each month - theme in sidebar
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 be continuing with the ever popular Blog Hops this year. We will have Valentine's, Easter, the Summer Postcard, Hallowe'en and the Advent Calendar. All at the appropriate time of the year. I will be posting about the Secret Stitching Sweethearts for Valentine's Day very soon so watch this space.

The People Chose The Designer of 2020

   

This SAL is all about what you want to see on the blog. Each month I ask for suggestions for themes and then put them up to the members of the IHSW Group on FB to vote for their choice. This is what they have chosen:

January - Designer of the Year 2020

February - Birds

March - Spring

This month's theme is the Designer you most enjoyed stitching in 2020.  So not necessarily your all-time favourite or the one you stitched the most.  Maybe you only stitched one small but it was the most fun thing you stitched last year.

I had a good long think and look back through the last year's stitching in an attempt not to choose Just Nan!   I came up with two choices - Hands on Design and CCN (Country Cottage Needlework).

I stitched three of the Hands on Design Scary Apothecary series last year, all on a wonderful bright green fabric from Chromatic Alchemy.  Then I found the perfect frame for them:

I have another three on the list for 2021 and the final three for 2022.

The CCN design was a conversion I have been planning for some time.  I really like the Main Street series but wanted a spooky version.  The first shop I built is the Grimoires Bookshop:

I used the yellow/purple colourway from the original shop but made them more appropriate shades for a spooky village.   I darkened the books and gave the tree autumn foliage.

In the plans for 2021, I have three more shops on the list.  I don't know which one will be next yet!  I shall see what I feel like when it comes up in the rotation.

Now it's over to you.  All you have to do is make a post on the theme of The Designer You Most Enjoyed in 2020, mention The People's Choice SAL (you can copy the picture I used at the top of this post and in my side bar) and my blog.  Please link up using the URL of the actual blog post, not the home page of your blog.  I look forward to seeing what you all post.

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Finally, I need your suggestions for the next poll.  Any thing, no matter how obscure, weird or random will go into the poll.  Keep the theme suggestions to a single word or two - so you could have Cats, or Blue, or Holidays, or Warmth etc.  Really anything which could be illustrated in cross stitch.

December Pie and Stitch from Stash

 It's Old Year's Night and time for a look back at the past 366 days of stitching.

First of all, here is the Pie for December:

For this year's 12 Days of Stitchmas I am stitching the Stoney Creek designs from 2019.  Here are Days 1 to 6, all stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

In my WIPocalypse post I showed you my 15 finishes from my "20 in '20" list and now here are the rest of my finishes for the year:

The collage program I am currently using only allows 25 photos, so here are the two that didn't fit in:

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

The top four individual projects were:

The Discworld Mappe - 111 days

Alice in Wonderland SAL - 36 days

Chatelaine Gardens of London - 34 days
Hands on Design Scary Apothecary - 27 days

I also stitched on a number of Just Nan projects, totalling 54 days when I only stitched those projects.  More often they were part of a daily stitch project.

I came into the year with 15 WIPs and started 43 projects over the course of the year of which 7 are still WIPs.  I also completed 3 projects started prior to 2018.  My current WIPs are:

Prior 2017	8
201	2
2018	0
2019	1
2020 Total	7 18

So the total went up but a few of those 7 will be complete very soon.  It's just life got in the way this month!  I do have some very large starts planned for next year too.

How did the spending go last month?  My magazine subscription came out and I bought a charity chart.

December
Charity chart CS sub	£3.65 £8.72
Total	£12.37

I also tallied up the spend for the whole year:

Magazines	£49.88
Charts	£166.86
Fabric	£32.47
Threads	£20.49
Other	£11.05
Total	£280.75

That figure is about the same as last year.  Once again, I spent more on charts and less on fabric and threads.  Magazines is down because I couldn't renew JCS.  The money spent on charts was nearly all Christmas and Birthday money so that's OK too.

Finally,

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

December WIPocalypse Annual Review

 

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 "20 in '20" for this year.

1. Ernie Bishop - NOEL Letters - WIP
2. Joan Elliott - Faces 1 Block - Finish
3. Brooke's Books - Stitcher's Alphabet - Finish
4. Chatelaine Designs - Gardens of London  - WIP
5. Lyndisfarne - Discworld Map - Finish
6. Nora Corbett - Gathering Eggs  - WIP
7. Mrs Peggotty - Queen of Hearts   - WIP
8. Just Nan - Christmas Friends - Finish
9. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 1 - Finish
10. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 2 - Finish
11. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 3 - Finish
12. JBW - 12 Days of Christmas Book 4 - Finish
13. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Bat Balm - Finish
14. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Bitter Brew - Finish
15. Hands on Designs - Scary Apothecary Broomstick Fuel  - Finish
16. Just Nan - Winter in the Square  - Finish
17. Amanda Butler - Alice in Wonderland - WIP
18. Just Nan - Autumn Mouse Needleroll  - Finish
19. Just Nan - Morning Meadow  - Finish
20. Country Cottage Needlework - Main Street Book Shop  - Finish

15 finishes this year, 2 more than last year.

5 WIPs, one of which is a long term project (my Chatelaine), one is going in the UFO pile (Mrs Peggotty, I just can't get into it) and 3 more that are getting close and hopefully will be finished next year.

The NOEL letters "only" have to have the hardanger completed, Gathering Eggs needs the background and Alice in Wonderland would have been a finish but I didn't like two of the blocks!  I have redesigned one and need to do the other.  But that's not really a December task, I need time to focus.

Ernie Bishop NOEL Letters

Chatelaine Gardens of London

Nora Corbett Gathering Eggs

Mrs Peggotty Queen of Hearts

Amanda Butler Alice in Wonderland

I've 

I

I've been putting together my "21 in '21" for next year and also my WIPGO Board which is a FB group where you make a Bingo Board for 25 of your projects.  The Admin calls 2 numbers each month and you reward yourself for completing rows or columns.

Finally, it's been very busy here, I did some extra shifts before Christmas which threw out my son's routine and he's not been very happy so I have spent more time with him, lots of long walks in the cold and watching YouTube with him.  What little time I do get, I stitch which means reading blogs and replying to comments comes further down the list!  So don't be surprised if you see a flurry of comments at the start of next term.  Once again, I am furloughed so will have more time at home.

December Smalls

  

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Mary's Thread

This year my Smalls have been my JBW 12 Days of Christmas ornaments which I started on Boxing Day 2019 for the 12 Days of Stitchmas.

stitched on 40 count white linen

I also completed another Gift of Stitching magazine design - Sugar Plum Tree by Rosewood Manor from December 2007:

stitched on 32 count mid green linen

This is from the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Special 2019 and was the September choice for the JCS FB group. Silvery Lace Snowflake from Works by ABC. Or Golden Lace Ornament as it now is:

stitched on 32 count burgundy linen

I also completed the Just Nan Owl Winder Pocket:

stitched on 28 count Tan Jobelan

A couple of people asked "what is an owl winder?"  It was a round piece of metal shaped as an owl face than you could wind your thread round, rather like a bobbin.  Very beautiful but very expensive which is why I don't have one.  I will make this up into a pocket next year and find something else to go in it.  Maybe a cardboard or thin wood shape?

Having completed last year's 12 Days of Stitchmas, I have now started this year's design:

stitched on 32 count Lime Green evenweave

This is the 2019 Stoney Creek Ornament series the lovely DJ sent me because I admired her's so much!  I will start one every day from 26th December to 6th January and finish one per month as I have done in previous years.

I will be posting my daily progress in the new 12 Days of Christmas Cross Stitching group on FB as well as sharing them here.

Finally, a big Thank You to everyone who took part in the Advent Calendar Blog Hop this year.  As usual, it was a great success and I loved hearing what your favourite books are.  Many people chose mine - The Christmas Carol.  It was interesting to hear how many different audio versions there are and which ones you all prefer too.

2020 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 book is.

It could be a traditional Christmas story, a modern tale, a book you read as a child, to your own children or one you discovered as an adult.

Tuesday 1st December

Jeremiah's Mom

Wednesday 2nd December

The Wicked Stitcher

Thursday 3rd December

Needle, Pen & Sword

Friday 4th December

Le Coeur Celtique

Saturday 5th December

Tiffstitches a Blog

Sunday 6th December

The Alchymyst's Study

Monday 7th December

Tickled Pink in Stitches

Tuesday 8th December

Aimetu's Stitching

Wednesday 9th December

Elfin Stitches

Thursday 10th December

A Patchwork of Crafts

Friday 11th December

Dragon Stitches and Stuff with Astrid

Saturday 12th December

Beth's Needlework Stash

Sunday 13th December

Bronny's Bits

Monday 14th December

Tales of a Stitching Mouse

Tuesday 15th December

Sewing After Seven

Wednesday 16th December

Yellow Flower Meadow

Thursday 17th December

Needles, Pins and Dragonflies

Friday 18th December

Kitten Stitching

Saturday 19th December

A Stitcher's Story

and

Count it *all* JOY!

Sunday 20th December

Books, Crafts and Other Procrastinations

and

Crafting Ramble

Monday 21st December

The Stitching Grandma

Tuesday 22nd December

The Flashing Scissors

Wednesday 23rd December

Mary's Thread

Thursday 24th December

Jocondine

Finally, I will be adding my favourite Christmas book a little bit later this month, so check back and find out what it is.  To keep you going, this is one that came into the shop today which I will definitely be buying for myself!

On the first day of Christmas my Grandma sent to me . . .

Grandma's presents may start off sensible - a partridge is easy enough to take care of - but her generosity soon gets wildly out of hand . . . 

The Twelve Days of Christmas: Or Grandma is Overly Generous is a witty new take on the festive classic The Twelve Days of Christmas, accompanied by beautiful full-colour illustrations, this is the perfect Christmas present for any child.

Publisher: Pan Macmillan 
ISBN: 9781529043372