May 2018 WIPocalypse check-in

I attempted to have a (mostly) monogamous May project month, and I'm actually pretty pleased with my progress.

I finished up A Bowl Full of Scaries.  Pattern by Plum Street Samplers.  Stitched on 36-count linen in the Legacy colorway from Picture This Plus, using Colour and Cotton hand-dyed threads.

Super happy with this finish since it puts me firmly with 3 out my hopeful 6 finishes this year.  I have also FFO'ed it, but I need to get a photo of that apparently.  That finish only took me until May 5th, so I switched over to working on A Stitching Shelf next. 

Also very happy to have achieved a page finish on this one.  (Page 2 done out of a gazillion).  Artwork by Aimee Stewart and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  I'm stitching this 1 over 1 full  crosses on Magic Guide 25-count. 

Finally I tackled my Desert Mandala Chatelaine.  I started and finished the first landscape vignette, which is at the top center - Monument Valley, I think?  I've got three days left in May to put in a few more stitches on this one, so I will probably tackle the triangular shaped section just above the landscape before I put this one away until June.  Absolutely LOVING working on this one!

On deck for June, I'm looking at trying for a page finish for Page 1 of my HAED/Six of Swords project, as well as trying for another page finish (or other small item finish) before moving back to the Chatelaine at the end of the month. 

Stitching Wednesday: September 27, 2017

Trying to get back in the blogging groove after our vacation mid-month.  I'm switching up a few things and changing my rotation for the next few months until the end of the year.  (If you are interested in more than you probably want to know, feel free to check out my YouTube channel - I uploaded a new plans/works in progress video this week over there.)

Essentially I'm going to move to a smaller group of projects to rotate through for the rest of 2017 so I can finish up a holiday gift.  I'm going to work on 2 other projects - my Chatelaine Desert Mandala and the Under the Sea SAL interspersed with the focus project - my Star Weaver storykeep from HAED.

I did get the September block finished for the Under the Sea SAL from Lakeside Needlecraft. The September block gets us to the bottom left-hand corner of this piece with an uber cute sea turtle.  I think this block might be my favorite so far.

Here's the whole sheebang so far.  Three more blocks to go!  I'm stitching this on a custom-dye 25-count evenweave that was available from Lakeside Needlecrafts in an ombre-dye.  It's showing grayer in these pictures than in real life.  I'm using DMC floss as called for, and stitching this 1 over 1.

My focus project is my Star Weaver storykeep with artwork by Tom Cross, charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.  I'm stitching this 1 over 1 on 28-count Monaco. Here's my progress up to last night.

This piece is basically 3 full pages. Pages 1 and 2 are complete, and I've started page 3.  I've got about 6000 sts left on this one, so I'm going to keep plugging away on it because I really want to have it finished and framed for Xmas this year!

Stitching Wednesday - August 30, 2017

Whew!  Life has intervened in the last couple of weeks and I missed last Wednesday entirely!  I've been quietly working on some stitching projects tho, so let me catch you up on things.

I put in 6 days' worth of work on my Chatelaine, the Desert Mandala pattern.  I'm still working on the first section, which is the center of the design.

I'm stitching this with the called-for threads, DMC and various hand-dyed silks, as well as some Petite Treasure Braid.  It's stitched on a 28-count Jobelan from Picture This Plus in the colorway Calypso.  I added in the trunk of the tree, another one of the sunset colors and extended the lightning bolt down.  I also finished the interior (magenta-colored) border, and the 1 over 1 coyote howling at the moon.  I'm really enjoying this project and it'll be coming back out for another 6 days over the first week of September.

Next up, I finished the second in a pair of holiday ornaments from Hands On Design.  This is Serenity and it's a companion piece to Solitude, which was featured as a finish a couple of posts ago.

I stitched this 2 over 2 on a hand-dyed Wichelt Jobelan fabric called Twilight Mist.  The floss is mostly Gentle Arts Threads, but I did replace one color with a sparkly Petite Treasure Braid (the snowflakes and the letters), which I like very much.  I also FFO'ed this with a scrap of cotton fabric I had in stash. 

I also worked for 6 days on Block 4 of Village of Hawk Run Hollow, which is the boarding house block.  I finished up the house (except for a bit of backstitching on the curtains) and the fence this rotation, and I started on the signpost there on the right.  I'm hoping when this comes back out in September that I'll be able to finish up this block!

This one is being stitched 1 over 1 on a 22-count Hardanger from Picture This Plus in Legacy using the DMC conversion provided for in the pattern.

Finally, I'm working on Star Weaver, which is the storykeep sized piece with artwork by Tom Cross and charted by Heaven and Earth Designs.

I've got a couple more days to work on this and I am really trying to get a page finish in!  This would then complete page 2 of 3, and I'll have just 1 more page to finish this one up.  This is being stitched on 28-count Monaco, 1 over 1 with DMC threads and a wee bit of Petite Treasure Braid.  Absolutely loving how this one is coming out!

I decided that I'm going to do the Year of WIPs 2018 being hosted by Melanie at the Soulful Stitching Facebook group.  I've got several things that were Maynia starts in 2017 that I'd like to get finished up in the next calendar year and I think that'll help motivate me to do that!  More details on that as we get closer to the year's end.

Stitching Wednesday - August 9, 2017

Good progress on Shoot The Moon (mini) this rotation.  I am almost finished page 5, and this means I started the ribbons in the fairy's hair. I have perhaps 50 or so stitches left to finish up page 7, and I'm through pages 1-3 completely, so I can move my scroll frame up a bit before I work on this next time - which will be September.  Pattern is charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Lee Ann Seed.  Stitched 1/1 on 28-count evenweave I hand-dyed in a gradient colorway called Dusk.

I then worked on my Under the Sea SAL from Lakside Needlecrafts, with artwork by Durene Jones. The clue was actually pretty quick to stitch this time - and added a manta ray to the group. I had budgeted 6 days to work on this, but I finished it up in only 3.

This is being stitched on a 25-count evenweave from Lakeside Needlecrafts.  It's a printed ombre'd fabric in watery colors that was an exclusive for this pattern/SAL.  Four more blocks to go!

Since I have a couple of extra days in this rotation, I'm going to put in a few days' work on Star Weaver from HAED, and then Sunday I'll start back to work on my Chatelaine so updates on both of those next week!

Stitching Wednesday - July 12, 2017

I had a page finish for the Shoot The Moon project - which nicely closed out my 6-day rotation on that project for this month.

I was very happy with my progress on this piece this month.  The project has 12 pages in total, so if I can try to get one done every month's rotation thru the end of this year, it'll be half finished.

I also snuck in a small finish.  I've been working up the set of Celtic festival inspired freebie patterns from The Primitive Hare, and Lammas is coming up on August 1st. These only take a couple of hours to stitch up, so this is already finished!

I stitched this using a scrap of hand-dyed 28-count linen from my shop (colorway Time Traveler), using a hand-dyed variegated cotton from Ship's Manor for the letters, and a limited edition Gentle Arts colorway for the stalks, and then Oxblood, Winter's Wheat and Dark Dune hand-dyed cotton threads from Colour and Cotton for the rest. I backed it with some neutral cotton fabric I had in stash. I love how it came out!

Starting July 7th, I began the next 6-day rotation working on Star Weaver, which is a storykeep sized (aka bookmark) piece charted by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Tom Cross.

I finished the first page last month, and I've been working on page 2 of 3 (and a wee bit extra) this rotation.  I just started the very peak of his pointy hat yesterday.

This one will get a few more days of focused work (through the 12th) and then I'll rotate on to my Under the Sea SAL.  The July clue was released at the beginning of the month, but I've opted to wait to work on it a bit so I can use the project for another SAL being hosted by Cross Stitch Finish Line for the Dog Days of Summer. The idea is to pick one project a day for 6 days (the 14th thru the 19th) that fufill the criteria for S-U-M-M-E-R.  I've picked:

07/14 - S: Seashore.  Under the Sea SAL.
07/15 - U: Umbrella.  A Stitching Shelf.
07/16 - M: Design name beginning with M.  Mabon by The Primitive Hare.
07/17 - M: Munchies - something to do with food.  Welcome Autumn (which has a pumpkin)
07/18 - E: Eternity - a piece taking forever.  I'll head back to work on Star Weaver a bit.
07/19 - R: Red - a project with the color red in it.  Solitude ornament.

Next week, I'll have photos of those projects and hopefully an update on the Under the Sea project too.

Stitching Thursday: January 5, 2017

Trying to stick with my 2017 goal of reviving the blog a bit, I'm kicking off a new set of posts: Stitching Thursday, with details on the stitching projects I've got going right now.

I've set up a weekly rotation schedule that seems to be working fairly well for me - I spend a week (Sunday thru Saturday) working on a specific piece and then switch off to a different one.  I'm focusing on 4 projects per month (or close to that anyway) and a week seems to be a good amount of time.  I stay motivated and focused and get a fair amount done, but I don't get bored or burned out on any one thing.

Right now I've got the following going:

The Village of Hawk Run Hollow

• Pattern by Carriage House Samplings.
• Fabric is a 22-count Hardanger from Picture This Plus in the Legacy colorway.
• Called-for threads from DMC.

This was a new start on January 1, 2017 and I'm planning on working on a block (there are 12 in total) a month.  This is block 1 so far and what I'm working on for my January Week #1 rotation project.  I'm stitching this 1/1.

The Winter Garden

• Pattern by The Drawn Thread.
• Fabric is a 32-count linen in colorway Smokey Gray.
• I'm using Gentle Arts threads for this (my own conversion).

I've got the first page finished on this design.  I'm stitching this 1/2 and this will be up for Week #2 in January's rotation.

Decorating the Wreath

• Pattern by Heaven and Earth Designs with artwork by Scott Gustafson.
• Fabric is a 28-count undyed linen.
• Called-for threads from DMC.

I worked on this the last week of December and finished up a page (the upper right portion of the image) that included the little pinecone and the bow.  This will be my January Week #3 rotation piece. I'm stitching this 1/1.

Welcome SAL

• Pattern is a mystery SAL by Tempting Tangles.
• Fabric is a 32-count linen from Picture This Plus in the Wren colorway.
• I'm using Gentle Arts threads for this one (my own conversion from DMC).

This is currently through Clue #8.  Clue #9 came out the last weekend of December, and there'll be another clue released on the weekend of January 15th.  I'll get caught up with those 2 clues for my final week of January's rotation.  I'm stitching this 2/2.

I'm also planning to start the Under the Sea SAL from Lakeside Needlework.  I have the SAL fabric and the threads ready to go.  The first clue came out January 2nd, but I am planning on working the 2 SALs the same rotation week, so I'll be starting this one once I finish up the next 2 clues in the Welcome SAL.  I do have the DMC floss called for in the pattern, but I think I'm going to switch it up and use some handpainted cotton threads from Colour and Cotton instead.  At least for the first block, I've got all but maybe 1 color that'll match pretty closely to the original colors.  (And if I need to, I can sub back in the called-for DMC).