WIPocalypse January 2015 Introduction

WIPocalypse is hosted by Measi's Musings

The focus of my WIPocalypse will be my "15 in '15"which are 15 charts I want to stitch in 2015 (following on from my "11 in '11", "12 in '12", "13 in '13" and "14 in '14" - imaginative, eh?)

1. Joan Elliott – Diary February WIP
2. Just Nan – Winter Typography WIP
3. Frosted Pumpkins – Hallowe’en Town WIP
4. Praire Moon – Thine is the Trick and the Treat WIP
5. Joan Elliott – Faces Mystery SAL WIP
6. Madame Chantilly – On the Beach WIP
7. Just Nan – Haunted Pumpkins Tree WIP
8. Jannlynn – Gathering Honey WIP
9. JBW – Rocking Horse
10. Teresa Wenztler – You were Hatched
11. Kingfisher for school
12. Dragon of the Winter Moon from Riona
13. Joan Elliott – Believe for school
14. Primitive Hare – Hallowe’en Blocks
15. Nutmeg Cottage from Susan

So far I have stitched the JBW Rocking Horse and Prairie Moon's Thine is the Trick and the Treat (this is my evening focus piece, one thread every evening).

 

I am also taking part in the DUCJC where I am attempting to stitch on 31 different projects throughout January.  Here are the starts for Days 4 and 5:

Day 4 - Lizzie*Kate - Friends are Angels

Stitched on 25 count yellow evenweave using Jodyri Threads Salsa

Day 5 - Beehive Needleworks - Sunflowers and Acorns

Stitched on 35 count linen

Measi also sets discussion topics for each month:

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

The projects and goals are pretty much covered above.  Introduction to me?  Well, the blurb on the right pretty much says it all.  I like to stitch, blog, help other stitchers and bloggers, organise SALs.

Which brings me to the next part!  The advert for the Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  This will be running all year and involves you stitching anything which could come under the category of a gift and then blogging about it and linking up here on the 15th of any given month.  We have 44 stitchers all signed up so far but you can pop in at any time during the year and join in with the fun.

Finally, it's back to work tomorrow so I think the Day 6 stitch will be a small one!

DUCJC 2015

The DUCJC is a very special challenge in memory of a very special lady.  SoCal Debbie was a prolific stitcher, blogger and commenter.  Sadly she passed away very suddenly last year.  One of her favourie challenges was the CJC:

CJC = Crazy January Challenge, one new start for the first 15 days of January

UCJC = Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, one new start for all 31 days of January

DUCJC = Debbie's Ultimate Crazy January Challenge, stitch 31 projects one per day for January

Linda Stitchin' with my Furbabies is organising this all via a FB group.  Thankfully Linda is not making us all attempt the SDUCJC (Super Duper Ultimate Crazy January Challenge) or 60 starts throughout January and February which she did with Debbie in 2012.

I have listed out my choices on my Challenge page.  Here are the first three days of stitching.  All three days have been "at home" days so I have got plenty done.  I decided to have three new starts for these whole days and save the WIPs for work days when I have less time to stitch.

Day 1 - Dyan Allaire for Kustom Krafts - Little Snap Dragon

Stitched on 32 count Morning Sky by Crafty Kitten

Day 2 - JBW - Hobby Horse

Stitched on 32 count Antique White linen using DMC 115

This will have my cousin's baby's name added under the rocking horse.

Actually, that raises a good question - why is this called a hobby horse when it clearly is a rocking horse?  A hobby horse is a stick with a horse's head and maybe some little wheels that you ride around whereas a rocking horse you sit on and rock back and forth.  French speakers - are there two different words in French for these toys?

A hobby-horse.

Day 3 - Country Cottage Needleworks - Poinsettia Place

Stitched on 32 count Permin Twilight Blue linen

I don't have the subtle variegated green so I am using a blend of the converted DMC and the next shade to it (3364 and 3363).  I have found this is a great way of substituting varigated threads especially when you don't want the stripy effect, just a less blocky look to a solid area of stitching.  I will get some more stitches in this one tonight.

What are my thoughts of the challenge so far?  Don't pick your favourite projects at the beginning of the month!  I am already itching to carry on with the first two choices!

I've also spent some time today tidying up the blog, making sure all the links have been updated to this year's SALs and removing the old ones.  I am miles behind on adding projects to my Happy Dance blog so that will be next.  I have a couple of finishes which were gifts so I couldn't show them before so that will be for another post too.

Finally, these three new starts all count for my Gifted Gorgeousness SAL.  Two were gifts from generous stitchers and one will be a gift for someone.  Credit will be given on the 15th January when we share our first GG Update.  Don't forget, you can join in any time, this year, no obligation to post every month.

Theme-a-licious Looking Back over 2014

Theme-a-licious is hosted by Heather of It's Geek to Me

Each month Heather thinks up a theme for us to stitch to, or in my case, a theme to somehow shoe-horn my existing stitching into, no matter how tenuous the link!

Jardin January

The holidays were a little stressful...let's relax in a nice garden. Work on any piece with flowers or gardens.

Three designs featuring garden creatures and plants

Fantastical Fictional February

What kind of fantasy creatures inhabit your Works in Progress? Or perhaps some fictional characters have leaped from the pages to your needles? Let's stitch on projects inspired by imagination.

The fantastical Vampire

My Anti-Theme piece - Elizabeth Burrows who was a real person

March Madness

Work on something different every day...it's madness...of the funnest possible kind.

14 different projects for 2014

April Showers

What pieces can you find in your flood of WIPs that include water? Rivers, lakes, oceans, or rain (and anything that lives within).

There are always tears at weddings, aren't there?

Menagerie May

Is it a zoo in your stack of WIPs? How many projects can you find that include animals or birds?

Six diferent animals, that final one is a frog which visited Noel Blanc!

June Jolt 
School's out for the summer! Let's work on things with sunshine in them or REALLY bright colours. Summer is here!

Joan Elliott Butterflies

Jubilee July

It's time to celebrate! What are you celebrating this year? Stitch on your holiday-related projects, OR find some WIPs you know you'll never finish and set them free.

Teresa Wentzler's Dragon helped celebrate the end of term as a teacher gift.

Author! Author! August

The words are speaking this month! Hunt out those WIPs with a verse or two. It's time those projects with words and sentences grew.

I told a lovely story based around my stitching this month.

Joan Elliott's Angel featured in the story.

Supersize September

Dip your needle into the vast swath of fabric dedicated to your BIGGEST projects!

The final stitches in a year-long project from Primitive Hare

Another year-long project from A Mon Ami Pierre

Oft-Overlooked October

Find a new-to-you designer and start a new project this month! Or maybe two...or three...

Madame Chantilly

Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery

No-Xs November

What can you make without making an X?? Blackwork, hardanger, embroidery, needlelace, and the list goes on! Don't panic...you can even backstitch for the month!

I stitched nothing on this Just Nan design!  So no Xs there!

Plenty of metallics, beads and backstitch on Joan Elliott's Green Goddess

Do What You Will December
Do you have gifts you need to finish? Projects you're sick of looking at that you want done? Or maybe you just want some nice, relaxing stitching for a hectic month? Anything goes this month!

Five finishes from December.

Heather has decided to have a little break from Theme-a-licious in 2016 which is a shame because I do love my themes!  You will all laugh when you hear what was in one of the crackers this Christmas - a shoehorn!  My hubby "won" that prize because we pulled the cracker together and he got the bigger part but I insisted he give it to me for my blogging.

Instead of doing Theme-a-licious then, I have signed up for a new SAL - D.E.S.I.G.N.  

The idea is to choose one of the WIPs you have stitched on that month and do a little article about the designer.  Hopefully I will feature some designers new to some of you and encourage you to visit their blogs or websites.

So finally (if anyone is still reading!)  

Have a very Happy Old Year's Night 

and a very Peaceful New Year's Day

December Small SAL and Round-Up

The Smalls SAL is hosted by Stitching Lotus

I chose three different monthly themes to follow this year:

Hallowe'en Ornie SAL - 12 different themes

Little Stitcher Fairy Tale 12 Days of Christmas - one per month

Primitive Hare Spooky Countdown - one per week starting 31st January

And I successfully completed all three challenges!  Yay me!

The Hallowe'en Ornie SAL Blog started in 2013 and I managed a few early finishes then petered out.  When the Admin there stepped down I started a new Blog along with several of the contributors.  We chose 12 themes and several of us have stayed the course.  Commenting at least, if not actually stitching!  Anyway, as Admin there is added pressure to contribute regularly, which I did.  Here are my 12:

Designers:

Just Nan; Brooke's Books; Snowflower Diaries; Knotted Tree Needleart

Carand 88; Carand 88; Just Nan; Just Nan

Val's Stuff; Val's Stuff; Tempting Tangles; Jacquie My Journey

For more information on each design, just go to the relevant month on the blog.

The next part of the challenge was The Little Stitcher 12 Days of Christmas designs.  I stitched one per month and used them to illustrate my TUSAL posts.  I also stitched the Miss Santa design from JCS which I plan to use as the cover for a scrapbook for the other twelve designs.

They are all stitched on the same 32count Vintage Grain linen, it's just the photogaphy makes them look different!

The final part was the Spooky Countdown by Primitive Hare, one little block per week from January to October plus the header and footer.  I made this into a Hallowe'en Countdown Tree.

The Smalls SAL is continuing next year, which is great news.  I have decided to have just two monthly challenges, the Hallowe'en Ornie SAL and the Hallowe'en Cubes from Primitive Hare which I will again be SAL with Giovanna in Italy.  The other smalls will be random things from my 15 in '15 and the DUCJC too.

Finally, I'm posting this update a day early so I can dedicate a full post for Theme-a-licious tomorrow!